The Science of Our Senses
Below is a description of the September excursion, written by James R., a freshman in Ms. Galib's Bio/Chem class:
Visiting the Monell Chemical Sense Center was a very entertaining, enriching, and fun event. The scientists at the Monell Chemical Senses Center taught us about many things, such as the five basic tastes: bitter, sweet, salty, sour, and umami (which has been discovered more recently. At the center, we also learned that two of the five senses, taste and smell, are closely related.
Everybody involved in this event had to take part in a couple of experiments. We had to dye our tongues blue because everyone has bumps on their tongues that determine how strong our senses of taste is. During the first experiment, we had to look through a mirror to determine how big the bumps are. During the test we discovered that most of the people there did not have any big taste buds really.
The next experiment that we had to do involved tasting vials of mystery liquids. There were 7 vials, and we all had to taste one after another. The first one was water, the second sugar water, the third mildly sour, the fourth bitter, the fifth tasteless, and the sixth one was tasteless as well. But something peculiar about the sixth one, is that some people could taste it while others couldn't. We learned that when you are born, you get chromosomes from both your mother and father. If some of them don't work, you are impervious to some things. For this taste, both of your parents must have the genes in order for you to be able to taste it. What was the most interesting about this discovery is that the same chemical that was inside of the liquid is found in different green vegetables.
After we were finished with all the experiments, we took a tour and we saw some labs. After we finished that, we took a bus home, and we all had presents to remember this once in a lifetime experience.
CSI Science: Making Observations and Inferences
Robotics Team Kicks Off Season
Members of the Boys’ Latin robotics team (Deus Ex Machina) attended a kick-off event for the FIRST Tech Challenge on Saturday, September 10, at Livingston High School in New Jersey. This event allowed our team to see the new competition requirements and to see other robots created by teams who have been competing for years.
This video shows this year's challenge. Students will spend the coming fall and winter designing and redesigning a machine that can compete in the FIRST Tech Challenge. The game manual was also released on September 10 and includes all of the competition rules.
Science Speaker Series with Dr. Bertley Addresses Global Issues in Science

Dr. Bertley spoke about science's ability to address global challenges and spoke specifically about his experiences working to develop a vaccination for HIV. Students learned about ongoing research and the possibilities for eradicating viruses. They also learned about the challenges that accompany these efforts.
At the end of Dr. Bertley's talk, students asked questions about his experiences as a researcher and scientist. Dr. Bertley earned a B.Sc. in Physiology and Ph.D. in Immunology, both from McGill University, where he also studied Mathematics and the History and Philosophy of Science. Dr. Bertley has won numerous Awards, including the coveted Harvard Medical School Dean’s Service Award, and the Business Journal’s 40 Under 40. Prior to joining the Franklin Institute’s leadership team, Dr. Bertley was research scientist at Harvard Medical School, researching HIV/AIDS vaccines. He is currently a Research Affiliate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) a member of the Academic Advisory Board for the Governor of Massachusetts.