Winners of Grad Slam Round Ten, who will advance to the Semifinals, are, from left, David Jacobson of Physics and Dayton Horvath of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Credit: Patricia Marroquin
Friday, April 11, 3 to 4 p.m., Elings 1605
Graduate Division Associate Dean Karen Myers helps the judges get settled in. They are, from left, Lisa Sedgwick, Hsiu-Zu Ho, and Kathy Foltz. Credit: Patricia MarroquinHere is what you missed at Round 10 of the Grad Slam.
Overview
The Grad Slam features three-minute presentations of student research.
The top two presenters from the preliminary round advance to the Semifinal round. And the top four receive $50 gift cards for the UCSB bookstore. In this case, all five competitors received gift cards.
Ryan’s Picks
Best Use of Grumpy Cat: Arturo Deza
Best Soundtrack: Emily Ellis
Best Reference to a Drag Racing Prius Since That Jason Bateman Movie: Dayton Horvath
Arturo Deza said Grumpy Cat has more virality than Peter Higgs. Credit Patricia MarroquinMost Successful Attempt to Raise My Suspicions About the Human Genome Project: David Jacobson
Best Recovery from a Malfunctioning Video Slide: Travis Seifman
Shortest Talk: Arturo Deza (2:48)
Judges' Picks
David Jacobson (Advances to Semifinal round)
Dayton Horvath (Advances to Semifinal round)
Travis Seifman
Emily Ellis
Arturo Deza
Presentation Summaries
What Makes Grumpy Cat More Popular Than the Higgs Boson? Arturo Deza, Dynamical Neuroscience
Emily Ellis talked about how some male Ostracods create flashy displays to attract females. Credit: Patricia MarroquinThis presentation explored how, from the perspective of visual psychology and computer vision, viral content on the Internet can be predicted. Arturo likes the idea of immortalizing an idea with an equation, and he wants to do that for the issue of virality, a relative property that addresses how ideas diffuse themselves around the world. By combining computer vision (a low-level data collection method) with visual psychology (a higher-level collection method), Arturo is able to determine with some confidence the relative attributes that lead to virality.
The Evolution of the Flashy Male Display in Ostracoda, Emily Ellis, Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology
Certain male Ostracods create flashy displays to attract females, not unlike human males who use Axe body spray, with the exception that the male Ostracods don’t lose friends in the process. Emily is attempting to create a phylogenetic tree of signaling and nonsignalling species to show how this has evolved. Ostracods produce light to protect themselves with predators (predators get suspicious about glowing food) and a small subset of them also produces it for mating purposes. By examining patterns of mating displays and tracing their origins, Emily hopes to identify the evolutionary roots of these displays.
Don’t Stop the Solar Fuels Party, Dayton Horvath, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Life, according to Dayton, is one big party. Energy resources keep this party rolling, and our best source of energy is the sun. Unfortunately, the variation in daily power demands makes capturing and using the energy of the sun rather inefficient for human purposes. Dayton is looking for renewable, low-cost power through solar energy. Using the model of chemical bonds involved in photosynthesis, he wonders if this can be done on a larger scale. This may be the key to sustainable energy in the future.
Genetic Regulation: What the Human Genome Project Didn’t Tell Us, David Jacobson, Physics
Travis Seifman discussed street processions as political goodwill gestures. Credit: Patricia MarroquinThe Human Genome Project, according to David, has not unlocked the full story of our complexity as organisms. Only about 2% of the gene codes for proteins, so what does the rest of this non-coding DNA do? It may be serving as a vast regulatory machinery for when to enact the 22,000 genes that we have. David is exploring this through his focus on specially structured RNAs called ribostructures. If we want to get a really detailed understanding of how life emerges, we need to understand these regulatory mechanisms and how they contribute to the web of interactions that make life happen.
Performing Ryukyu: Early Modern Street Processions as Political Acts, Travis Seifman, History
This presentation explored street processions as performed by embassies from the Ryukyu Kingdom in the 17th to 19th centuries. It has become standard practice for new ambassadors to a country to be treated to a political goodwill gesture, such as travel in a limo or a horse-drawn carriage. But Travis argues that these gestures are more than they appear, that they are not just for show but a powerful political act. Using the traveling representatives of the Ryukyu Kingdom of the 1870s as an example, Travis shows that these processions can convey powerful political meanings such as prestige, respect, and indications of a nation’s modernity.
For information on other events, visit the Graduate Student Showcase 2014 page.
Previous Grad Slam 2014 coverage
Grad Slam Round One Recap: Topics Range From Hearts to Handprints, Liberia to Light
Grad Slam Round Two Recap: Music and Poetry and Yoga, Oh My :-)
Grad Slam Round Three Recap: Clapping, Compost, Kids' Music, and More
Grad Slam Round Four Recap: Everyone's a Winner
Grad Slam Round Five Recap: Sex, Drugs, and Lasers
Grad Slam Round Six Recap: Writing, Repatriation, the Rural Midwest, and More
Grad Slam Round Seven Recap: Fog, Flow, Fathers, and More
Grad Slam Round Eight Recap: Speakers Take Audience Into a Cloud, Under Water, Across West Africa
Grad Slam Round Nine Recap: Maintaining Health, Drinking Wine, Treating Acne, and More
Round Ten competitors listen to a question from the audience. Credit: Patricia Marroquin