Posted in Project Ideas on Feb 20th, 2012 Comments Off
The bends or decompression sickness in SCUBA divers is linked to fast ascents from depth. When ascending, the ambient pressure is reduced (for approximately every 33ft underwater another atmosphere of pressure is added), which causes absorbed gasses to come back out of solution and form micro-bubbles in the blood. The air consumed by SCUBA divers [...]
Posted in Project Ideas on Jan 29th, 2012 Comments Off
Compare decay rates in bacterial populations when more than one population is present. Theory: Tilman’s model for resource competition (Neuhauser, Claudia. Calculus for Biology and Medicine. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2000. 98) Derivates of exponential functions (Neuhauser, Claudia. Calculus for Biology and Medicine. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2000. 131) Exponential population growth (Neuhauser, Claudia. Calculus for Biology and [...]
Posted in Project Ideas on Jan 16th, 2012 Comments Off
At Superfund sites there is a concern that chemical toxins, for example, mercury, chromium, PCB and carcinogenic hydrocarbons, will cause contamination within the aquifers (groundwater bearing soils). Model the rate of import and export of the toxin of your choice into and out of the aquifer. How long would it take for the toxin to [...]
Posted in Project Ideas on Dec 19th, 2011 Comments Off
In most countries alternative fuels, such as ethanol, are actually a mixture of ethanol and gasoline. These ethanol fuel mixtures have “E” numbers which describe the percentage of ethanol in the mixture by volume. For example, in the US many ethanol fuel mixtures are designated E10, which means 10% of the fuel is composed of [...]
Posted in Project Ideas on Dec 1st, 2011 Comments Off
Skull size in human adults is relatively small when compared to their body size. The same cannot be said for babies, whose skull size is quiet large in comparison to their body size. Use this information to determine at what developmental stage humans have larger skulls relative to their body length. Theory: Allometric growth (Neuhauser, [...]