135 posts
@goredchanel sure! Planning, practice, and time management are probably the most important things.
We didn't really come in with a plan and had to spend a lot of time figuring out what we were going to do, how each of the pieces fit together, and how to get the code working across files. I was also not familiar with HTML, CSS, or JavaScript, and since we decided on building a website... it took a long time to learn how anything even worked.
Also practicing I think is just overall helpful. Even if it's just smaller projects, it helps build up to making that bigger hack. Making small apps/games/websites, even if they aren’t that useful can help keep your skills up to date. And then when the hackathon comes along, you can do a more practical project. For learning python and java from the very beginning I like codingbat, but if you’re already familiar, it might be too slow.
Time management is also important to keep track of. We didn't have this issue, but I think it was pretty common in the groups.
Devpost has a "Beginner-Friendly" tag for more hackathons, so those are hopefully less intimidating. Anyways, I hope that helps 😊
my first 24 hour hackathon!
NEVER AGAIN in my life am I building a website from scratch 😭 it’s torture. if only my dumb self knew that frameworks existed…
my first 24 hour hackathon!
NEVER AGAIN in my life am I building a website from scratch 😭 it’s torture. if only my dumb self knew that frameworks existed…
In this video, take a flight through millions of galaxies mapped using coordinate data from DESI.
Credit: Fiske Planetarium, CU Boulder and DESI collaboration
astrohumanist
NGC 1316 taken by Hubble Space Telescope on January 26 2021
NGC 1316 is an elliptical galaxy formed by the collisions of multiple galaxies near the constellation Forax in the southern hemisphere. What makes this galaxy unique is the dark lanes of dust visible around the galaxy. These are indicative that they galaxies NGC 1316 was formed by were spiral galaxies.
What helped scientists determine that this galaxy was created due to a "recent" collision where different types of images taken of NGC 1316. Hubble's images helped to reveal huge collisional shells and a small number of globular clusters. Collisional shells are formed from debris of the parent galaxy, which under the effects of gravity and tidal forces. These tails last for a long time, before eventually being reabsorbed into the progenitor (object of origin). Globular clusters are a group of stars bound by gravity.
These two events were indicative of a merger that occurred within the past couple billion years.
Sirius A and B taken on 13th December 2005 by Hubble Space Telescope
Sirius A is well known for being the brightest star in the night sky and a part of the constellation Canis Major. However, its binary partner, Sirius B was only discovered in 1862.
Ever since the creation of Newton’s law of universal gravitation, star mechanics became not only descriptive, but also predictive. Sirius A’s path across the night sky was unexpected. It wasn’t a straight line, but rather oscillated across its path. This caused many scientists to suspect that Sirius A had a binary partner.
Sirius B was first observed by Alvan Clark, who was testing a new telescope at the time. This was later on confirmed by other telescopes.
Sirius B is a white dwarf, while Sirius A is a main sequence star, meaning it is much larger and much brighter. 1000x brighter than Sirius B, in fact.
In the photo, Sirius A is in the center (although there are some effects due to the instruments) and Sirius B can be seen in the lower left.
Pretty winter sunset but I’m stuck inside 🌅 Just cleaned my room though so I don’t mind that much.
3rd picture is my desk— should I put something on the wall? I don’t want to drill anything in.
Today was pretty frustrating for a variety of reasons, so I didn’t think I would get much done today but then I hopped on to Tumblr and saw a bunch of people’s study posts so I guess I’m trying this again.
- Study for math test
- Work on research program applications
- Upload a new software onto my computer
Good luck 👍
THE THREE-PASS APPROACH
The key idea is that you should read the paper in up to 3 passes, instead of starting at the beginning and plowing your way to the end.
Each pass accomplishes specific goals and builds upon the previous pass:
The first pass gives you a general idea about the paper.
The second pass lets you grasp the paper’s content, but not its details.
The third pass helps you understand the paper in depth.
At the end of the first pass, you should be able to answer the 5 Cs:
Category: What type of paper is this? A measurement paper? An analysis of an existing system? A description of a research prototype?
Context: Which other papers is it related to? Which theoretical bases were used to analyze the problem?
Correctness: Do the assumptions appear to be valid?
Contributions: What are the paper’s main contributions?
Clarity: Is the paper well written?
Purpose of the Sections of Empirical Articles
Section — Use it for
Abstract — This is a great section to read to find out if the article will be relevant to your own research.
Introduction — This section gives you an overview of work that has been done on topics relating to the hypothesis of the article, and will often lead you to other relevant work that has been done in your area of interest.
Method — This section will help you understand the design of the experiment. This is particularly useful if you'd like to replicate the study.
Results — The results will tell you what the author/s found in the course of their experiment.
Discussion — The discussion section is typically easier to read than the method and results section, and it will help the reader understand the implications of the results of the experiment.
References — This is a great place to look to find articles that are related to the one you are reading. If you're looking to build your own literature review, the references are a great place to start.
The Anatomy of a Scientific Paper
Some initial guidelines for how to read a paper:
Read critically: Reading a research paper must be a critical process. You should not assume that the authors are always correct. Instead, be suspicious. Critical reading involves asking appropriate questions.
Read creatively: Reading a paper critically is easy, in that it is always easier to tear something down than to build it up. Reading creatively involves harder, more positive thinking.
Make notes as you read the paper. Use whatever style you prefer. If you have questions or criticisms, write them down so you do not forget them. Underline key points the authors make. Mark the data that is most important or that appears questionable. Such efforts help the first time you read a paper and pay big dividends when you have to re-read a paper after several months.
After the first read-through, try to summarize the paper in one or two sentence.
If possible, compare the paper to other works.
Write a review that includes:
a one or two sentence summary of the paper.
a deeper, more extensive outline of the main points of the paper, including for example assumptions made, arguments presented, data analyzed, and conclusions drawn.
any limitations or extensions you see for the ideas in the paper.
your opinion of the paper; primarily, the quality of the ideas and its potential impact.
The guide below details how to read a scientific article step-by-step.
First, you should not approach a scientific article like a textbook— reading from beginning to end of the chapter or book without pause for reflection or criticism. Additionally, it is highly recommended that you highlight and take notes as you move through the article.
Skim the article. This should only take you a few minutes. You are not trying to comprehend the entire article at this point, but just get a basic overview. You don’t have to read in order; the discussion/conclusions will help you to determine if the article is relevant to your research. You might then continue on to the Introduction. Pay attention to the structure of the article, headings, and figures.
Grasp the vocabulary. Begin to go through the article and highlight words and phrases you do not understand. Some words or phrases you may be able to get an understanding from the context in which it is used, but for others you may need the assistance of a medical or scientific dictionary. Subject-specific dictionaries available through our Library databases and online are listed below.
Identify the structure of the article and work on your comprehension. Most journals use an IMRD structure: An abstract followed by Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. These sections typically contain conventional features, which you will start to recognize. If you learn to look for these features you will begin to read and comprehend the article more quickly.
Read the bibliography/references section. Reading the references or works cited may lead you to other useful resources. You might also get a better understanding of the basic terminology, main concepts, major researchers, and basic terminology in the area you are researching.
Reflect on what you have read and draw your own conclusions. As you are reading jot down any questions that come to mind. They may be answered later on in the article or you may have stumbled upon something that the authors did not consider. Here are some examples of questions you may ask yourself as you read:
Have I taken time to understand all the terminology?
Am I spending too much time on the less important parts of this article?
Do I have any reason to question the credibility of this research?
What specific problem does the research address and why is it important?
How do these results relate to my research interests or to other works which I have read?
6. Read the article a second time in chronological order. Reading the article a second time will reinforce your overall understanding. You may even start to make connections to other articles that you have read on this topic.
Identify Key Information
Whether you are looking for information that supports the hypothesis in your own paper or carefully analyzing the article and critiquing the research methods or findings, there are important questions that you should answer as you read the article.
What is the main hypothesis?
Why is this research important?
Did the researchers use appropriate measurements and procedures?
What were the variables in the study?
What was the key finding of the research?
Do the findings justify the author’s conclusions?
Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6 ⚜ More: Notes & References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs
“Since it is now past 2 AM, perhaps it’s time to get some sleep and tackle this tomorrow?”
Especially as a student, it seems necessary to sacrifice sleep in order to study for a test more or get that last homework assignment done, and I get it.
It’s a never-ending cycle— stay up late to study, too tired the next day, procrastinate because you’re tired…
I used to sleep around 8 hours, which is generally the norm, when I found that I was still procrastinating and still tired. I thought that this was due to stress and therefore needed to study more to reduce my stress about upcoming tests. This led to me sleeping 6-7 hours instead.
These past couple of weeks, I’ve decided to listen to my body a lot more, often sleeping 9-10 hours.
I’ve become more productive: being able to work towards my goals without losing out on my health, being more energized, and also having more free time.
It seems counterintuitive, right? Sleeping three hours more should reduce how much I get done in a day, but no. I realized I spend a lot of time while I study being off track or doomscrolling on my phone. This actually is a logical result of being tired— not having enough energy to focus on a task and needing the dopamine in a fast release.
So what do I do if I enjoy working late at night? Especially in high school, there’s strict schedules and timings for when you have to be up so that you can be on time. Unless you can get a prep period, you have to wake up at 7:00 am.
I started taking naps as soon as I get home. If I’m not feeling as if I’ll get anything done, I try to get off my phone and just listen to music or daydream as I try to get a little bit of sleep.
If I keep this up, hopefully Copilot will stop criticizing my sleep habits 😁
chemistry has been kicking my butt lately. so i’m staying after school to study. yay 😀
on the bright side, i somehow managed to secure more than 100% in my comp sci class with a huge fail rate… not really going to question it in case it was a mistake tho. take the wins when they arise
finally finished my online class!
and now i go back to regular school tomorrow…
target haul!! i went to go grab two notebooks (one for physics and one for math) i normally just use one for the entire year, but this time i’ve already run out of pages in one semester 😳
my computer science teacher says f the trees (his words not mine) and that you should use the paper to do your work and not try to compress it super small. a little extreme, but the point is, don’t be shy to take up space with your notes.
i went for a walk later this evening to decompress and it was so pretty— prepare for more sky pics because i will be going outside more often after today.
- final review physics 2
- ap frq practice
i failed one of the frqs which was pretty disappointing. focusing on the positive, i now know what i need to practice before my final tomorrow!
I over-explain, yes.
So,
I was going through the communities option here because somehow too many computer science memes have been coming up on my feeds in Instagram and Pinterest. So, I was like- huh, let's see what Tumblr has!
I typed programming, well nothing came up so I tried coding. Again nothing. I tried programmer, coder, cs, computer science, comp, hack, hacking, hackers, nerd, geek etc etc but nothing came up.
But oh, I did find many people posting stuffs about coding and computer science. So why aren't these people united- Surely, there's Discord (I'm not on it and have no intention of opening an account there any sooner) for that but still what about people like me? (who already have too many apps just lying around unused and sometimes overused)
So,
I am thinking about opening a Tumblr Community for all the people who laugh at computer science memes even after it's the only thing they love to do- (referring to people who have a thing for computer science, yes)
(The options are direct because I've finished my daily quota of humor)
Also, I might end up naming the community Geeks, so yeah- think about a name please. Thank you.
Tagging some awesome people: @deletedg1rl @transiently-translucent @viridiangreennn @bagalois @sariel-studies-stuff @selenophhile @teaisstudying @bartholomewthestudyduck @swars-is-a-curse @shinaaposts @chu-diaries @stressed-burrito @straaaa @studyblr-perhaps @ramblingsfromthytruly @notyourtypicalfool @iwillsurvivecollege @moonlight-n-moondust @dormienscattus @instantsaladbouquet @minmin-vs-physics @jasminejava @lady-knight-inspo @ashs-nerd-den @ashs-reverie @losergfdotcom @sitamahalakshmicore @finisconoratopus @nelyastudies @reallynotmemoi @study-beee @andreainlove @whalelotofstudy @superlocrians @spcwtchstdy @lovesickd0ll @hopelittledreamer @aristudiess @yarensdiary @j-juno @sariel-studies-stuff @sirenkacode @sleep-deprived-music-gremlin @geniejeans @goose-the-corvid @itsliterallyjustme @stemstudyblog @aethereallynephilim @stem-diaries @dadoorman
Tag more people please!
study tip: eat chocolate 🍫 (unless you’re allergic please don’t die)
i couldn’t sleep last night and ended up falling asleep at 5 am. waking up this morning was really difficult and all my muscles were feeling achy.
i didn’t think I would get anything done, but then i had half a chocolate bar…
- rc circuits problem set
- rc circuits quiz
- electric circuits unit test
now i’m spending the evening working on python and then scrolling on pinterest 👀
typically, sweeter snacks are frowned upon because of the high sugar content which can cause you to crash and make it difficult to maintain focus.
however, chocolate also contains cacao. cacao improves focus and memory, and also relieves stress.
before school, i’ve started adding cacao nibs to yogurt, oatmeal, and smoothies. it’s a great way to boost your mind in an easy and delicious way :)
happy new year! 🎉🎉🎉
I wanted to lock in before the new year, so I finally got through the final part of my circuits lecture!!! I think this one was the longest yet (it took me like the whole day).
I did stop for a walk outside though (that’s the picture I took on the left) so that helped me clear my mind a little bit. Definitely a goal of mine will be to focus more when it’s time to work and then relax guilt free in order to prevent days like this.
Overall, I’m not disappointed since it’s difficult material. I really like the problem solving aspect of it since it’s like working a puzzle— especially the multi-loop ones.
funny story… the timer on my quiz was at ~40 mins and i only had an hour for the quiz so I was super stressed— only 20 mins left with a third of the problems left.
turns out the timer was counting down 😭 so i rushed for literally no reason. i got 100% anyways! so no harm.
today is a study day (fortunately or regrettably depending on your perspective). this problem set is really cool and i actually like learning about circuits, which i didn’t expect.
- circuits problem set (88 mins)
- circuits quiz (39 mins)
- advanced circuits lecture
i’m REALLY behind in my course and i need to catch up by the time school starts again so i probably have another 4 hrs of work minimum. it’s finally feeling like crunch time lol
today is a study day (fortunately or regrettably depending on your perspective). this problem set is really cool and i actually like learning about circuits, which i didn’t expect.
- circuits problem set (88 mins)
- circuits quiz (39 mins)
- advanced circuits lecture
i’m REALLY behind in my course and i need to catch up by the time school starts again so i probably have another 4 hrs of work minimum. it’s finally feeling like crunch time lol
final days of the year… ❄️ excited for a fresh start but also feeling the pressure of beginning new habits
i have a theory that trying to start new habits all at once is just going to lead to crashing and burning. so, only 1 new habit for the new year: journaling everyday.
it’s going to help me keep track of what i want to accomplish and my overarching goals of wanting to be stronger, healthier, and focused. i’ll try to build up better habits gradually, so that they last for longer than a week, especially when school is getting tougher.
I just made a playlist of songs that I listen to while I study 📚 Unfortunately, I have to lock in over the holidays, and I know some people are in the same boat so hopefully this will help motivate!
I didn’t do this on purpose, but it turned out EXACTLY 2 hours long, so it’s a sign from the universe that you should listen to it 😁
first day of winter break! i woke up early this morning for a meeting and it was still dark. then i witnessed one of the most beautiful sunrises i have ever seen. my entire room was orange
so glad finals are over :)
long study day at the library! there was a lot of snacks since it’s finals week but getting a spot was so impossible 😦 my friend and I saw three people leaving from behind some bookshelves and it was like the hunger games trying to grab our stuff and get seats before anybody else could take them
the library closed kind of early so now I’m back home and I have a long night ahead of me
- analysis study sheets (5/5)
- extra credit poem
- email people back 😭
- comp sci practice tests
- chem study sheets???
Zoe // 16 // she/her/hers // INTJ
Currently studying physics, chemistry, computer science, calculus, photography. Topics in physics I’m learning about are E&M, thermodynamics, relativity, standard model, cosmology, high-energy astrophysics, and fluids.
I’m interested in dark matter and CMB research. My academic goals right now are mostly focused on getting into university with a major in physics. I want to get a PhD in either physics or astrophysics and work in academia doing cosmology research.
Other fun facts: I play golf and am training in calisthenics. I really like listening to music and I have a really cute cat (he’s a little chunky tho). My favorite show is Voltron Legendary Defender, and my favorite movie is a tie between Oppenheimer and The Social Network.
i made this post a while ago and omg its even worse than i thought. i'm working on some electrostatics problem sets rn. how are you going to have v for velocity, V for electric potential, V for the volts unit, V for volume, U for potential energy, u for energy density, v (or i guess nu) for neutrinos, v for frequency???? they all look the same...
don't even get me started on k
why are there so many variables in physics? it’s like reading a whole new language and i’m dying here 😭
who decided that both electric potential and electric potential energy were going to be a thing 😑 we need a serious discussion!
i’m back in the library and i’m actually getting some work done which is good! i’ve been feeling kind of down lately so focusing on homework has gotten a lot harder.
finals are coming up and all i want to do is watch arcane season 2 and rewatch voltron before it leaves netflix 😭 two more weeks….
studying outside ✨ but then getting nothing done bc the weathers nice…. still have to finish up my notes for astrophysics and then go through the lectures for e&m
i actually got out of bed and did some work 😳 total 90 mins so far. next on my to-do list is emails and suddenly i want to crawl back into the darkness
i have too much to do but not enough time 🥲
early morning study session! i’ve been at it for two hours and i’ve only gotten through 7 physics problems but that’s the fun part 😁
pretty sure i got one wrong bc one of my solutions is 1.3 x 10^65 hydrogen atoms….
actually studying in the library for once 😊 and yes, i did spend five minutes drawing those gorgeous field lines instead of being productive