"Rise of the Insect Drones": The Evolution of Insect Inspired MicroDrones

   

A Mircrodrone Prototype

"Whatever their application, microdrones are no longer a da Vinci-like dream of engineers. They're taking off-agile, resilient, and under their own power." - Rise of the Insect Drones

          The article "Rise of the Insect Drones" by Adam Piore from Popular Science is a scientific article focused on the recent breakthroughs in the aerodynamics of insect inspired microdrones. The article explains how engineers have been creating microdrones, or small drone aircrafts, that are similar to real-life insects and how these microdrones have evolved into very helpful tools that will be released in the very near future. Long ago, microdrones would have seemed completely unrealistic and as it says in the article, "a da Vinci-like dream". But now companies, scientists, and engineers are creating newer and better microdrones all over the world. For years, scientists and engineers have been trying to create microdrones that would be able to hold cameras and survey areas as well as perform other functions such as that of a communication device. When two engineers were relaxing outside of work one day, they saw a fly hit into a glass wall and do the thing their microdrones couldn't do-recover. These scientists and engineers, Richard Guiler and Tom Vaneck, have since been helping lead the creation of microdrones that work like insects, using the same aerodynamics such as wake capture that real flies, bees, butterflies, and other insects use. Since then, microdrones have continued to evolve and develop into tools that will be able to survey disaster sites for survivors and even pollinate flowers! To summarize, these microdrones are very helpful creations that are continuing to advance and though they were once a dream, they are slowly evolving into a not-so-distant reality.

          In the article, the author's claim is that microdrones can be very helpful to society as they become more complex. One way this claim is supported is how the author described the basic evolution of the first microdrone prototype. In the text, it describes the process scientists went through of studying how real flies and insects could bounce right off objects instead of just hitting something and breaking apart. From this, the scientists realized that they had to make "a manmade system that could hit things, recover, and continue on" instead of making a mechanically precise robotic system. By describing this process the scientists went through, the author supports the idea that the microdrones are evolving to become more and more sophisticated or complex because he shows how scientists looked deeper into how real insects work in order to improve their prototypes. Another way the author supports his claim is by describing the functions a microdrone could provide for society. In the article, it says, "RoboBees [the original insect microdrone that is still being developed] could search disaster sites for survivors, monitor traffic, or pollinate crops." This shows how the author supports his claim because he tells the reader the different hard-core and simple tasks these microdrones can perform as they are being continually developed, showing how both complex and useful these insect drones can be. Additionally, the author supports his claim by comparing different kinds of microdrones. Throughout the article, the author mentions RoboBees, the original prototype focused on, as well as many other new ones such as the NanoHummingbird, a tiny hummingbird-like system that can fly against wind and has a camera, communication system, and energy source all attached to it. The article also mentions a robotic dragonfly made by a company that weights less than a quarter but has a high-definition camera and a communication system. These prototypes show how many revolutionary microdrones are being made all over the world. And as they continue to evolve and become more complex, they will become even more helpful in society for hard tasks such as finding survivors or simpler but important tasks such as pollinating flowers and helping to fill the role of endangered bees in the environment. Overall, the author supports his claim in different ways such as describing the evolution and purpose for microdrones and by comparing different microdrone models.

          Furthermore, the author used several different kinds of craft moves in order to engage the reader and get his point across. For example, one craft move the author used was enlarging certain sentences in the article and putting them in bold on the side, separate from the text. One sentence enlarged like this was, "Engineers have developed the first insect-inspired vehicles, opening the door to an entirely new class of machine: the microdrone." This sentence, as well as the others formatted like it, is engaging and keeps the reader focused on the main ideas the author is trying to convey and keeps readers from getting to caught up in minor details. Another example of a craft move is the pictures in the article. In the text, there are several large pictures that keep the reader interested throughout the long article. Two of these pictures show a type of microdrone next to a coin where one microdrone is slightly larger than a penny in one, and in the other picture the microdrone is about the size of a quarter. The author intentionally used these pictures in the article because they show the reader how even though these microdrones are quite mechanically advanced, they are very tiny. This shows the reader how impressive the technology for the drones really is and leaves the reader thinking about how much work these small robotic systems can do. In addition, the way the author starts the article with an anecdote is a craft move. The article begins by describing two engineers that worked on microdrones sitting in a bar, trying to forget about work because they hadn't been making a lot of progress. As they were talking and trying to forget about work, they noticed a fly smash into a window and then bounce right back. Unlike the drones they had been working on, the living fly knew how to recover from its shock. This inspired them and they had an "epiphany" to try to make their drones more of a manmade system that would be able to recover from incidents. The author used this anecdote to start the article intentionally because it brings the reader to a relatable scenario of just trying to relax and then finding inspiration in an unexpected place. Reading about aerodynamics and microdrones may seem like a complex scientific topic to some people, but the way the author broke it down into two engineers having a revolutionary idea just from seeing a fly hit glass makes the whole concept of the article more interesting for people who aren't engineers or mechanics to read. The anecdote brings the actual invention and the formation of ideas into the article instead of just starting by listing the functions and mechanical build of microdrones. Overall, the author uses several different kinds of craft moves such as enlarging sentences, using specific pictures, and using anecdotes to engage the reader throughout the article.

          My response to this article was that I found it incredibly interesting. Personally, I love science, though I'm not usually interested in mechanics or engineering. But I loved this article because I could understand the way the microdrones worked and how the aerodynamics discussed in the article such as wake capture actually worked since the article explained the aerodynamics of the real flies and insects that inspired the microdrones. What I mean by this is that by looking up a few words and paying a lot of attention, I was able to actually understand all these mechanical concepts in the article I would have never thought I could grasp. But though they were complex concepts, the article broke them down for me and I was able to understand the article from both a reading-for-fun-and-knowledge perspective and an actual mechanical perspective. Before reading this article, I would have never taken a second glance at a fly before just swatting it away. Now, I want to see a fly just to see if I can understand how it flies and the aerodynamics it uses just like the ones discussed in the article. Furthermore, I found this article very interesting because it showed me a lot about how products or inventions can evolve over time to become much more complex. All the prototypes and different kinds of microdrones were worked on for years and are still being worked on in order to continue to make them more like real insects and to carry out more complex functions. From the article, I was able to see how much work and detail really goes in to every single drone model and how the engineers can find inspiration for their work from something as simple as watching a fly. This idea of how the engineers actually found mechanical inspiration from every day real-life really captivated me and made me think about finding inspiration in my own life from just ordinary or simple, every-day things. This reminded me of the poetry unit in ELA because poetry can come from unexpected places. And people can find an inspiration for a poem when they're not even looking for it, just like how the engineers found inspiration when they were trying to relax outside of work. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this article and it has inspired me to want to learn more about insect-inspired microdrones in the future. 

Downton Abbey: How does Matthew's death affect the different characters and the power situation in Downton Abbey?

      An Inquiry on the First 30 Minutes of Season 4, Episode 1

     

"It's a changing world." - Bill Molesley

  
   In the new Season 4 of the popular British show Downton Abbey, new plots and crazy schemes are cooking up with the new episodes, new guest stars, new love interests, fresh drama, and great tragedy! The last season ended on the shocking note of the death of Lady Mary's husband, Matthew in World War I, and the new season started 6 months after. The first episode of the new season starts by showing the different parts of Downton Abbey and introducing the audience to a buzzing staff and a grieving Lady Mary. For my inquiry, I 'closely read' the first 30 minutes of this episode for observations and inferences. While watching, I found two main ideas I wanted to focus on for my inquiry project; the way different characters were affected by Matthew's death and how the death affected the balance of power in the abbey. I chose to focus on these issues because the emotions and power-to-resistance dynamic going on within the abbey really stood out to me from the moment the episode started. I noticed how different characters grieved for Matthew in different ways such as Mrs. Crawley staying very reserved while Lady Mary was completely cold and made her feelings quite clear to the people around her. Also, I noticed how Lord Grantham chose to move on from the death and even use it as an opportunity to grab control of the abbey from an oblivious Lady Mary. Overall, Matthew's death negatively affects Donwnton Abbey by causing emotional problems for different characters and by disrupting the balance of power in the abbey.

     First, Matthew's death negatively affects the different characters in the abbey. For example, Matthew's death has the biggest negative affect on Lady Mary. She becomes very moody, depressed, snappish, spacey and in her own world. But Matthew's death gives Mary more than just a bad attitude; it's put a strain on her relationship with her family. When Matthew was alive, Mary and her sister Edith were much closer and even though they weren't 'best friends', they talked to each other and had lively conversations. Now, Lady Mary can't stand to see her sister Edith happy with her boyfriend because she sees Edith having the romance she can't ever have without Matthew. Also, Matthew's death puts a big strain on Lady Mary's relationship with her son, baby George. When they were together, Matthew brought out a light and a great joy in Lady Mary. Before she was with Matthew, Lady Mary was very stubborn and didn't have a lot of fun.  Matthew inspired and empowered Mary and made her feel like she was invincible. Having a child with Matthew was Mary's dream, but without Matthew, Mary doesn't know how to care for George. She doesn't show joy anymore and she doubts her abilities as a single mother. When I was watching, I noticed that Mary was letting the nanny take care of her son as if the nanny were the mother and Mary even called George a "poor little orphan", implying that she, herself, was not alive anymore emotionally though she was physically. This shows how Mary is very resistant to be a mother because she's so consumed by grief that she doesn't know how to suddenly jump into the whole new world of caring for an infant. To continue, Matthew's death negatively affects his mother, Mrs. Crawley by making her lose her self-confidence. In the episode, Mrs. Crawly said she was "getting used to not being a mother". Having lost both her husband and now her son, Mrs. Crawly has given up on her old ways of being as helpful as she can and always having an opinion. I noticed that Mrs. Crawley had similar feelings of grief to Lady Mary but they were both affected by Matthew's death in different ways. While Lady Mary made her emotions very clear, Mrs. Crawley tried to keep her grief on the inside, and not cause any trouble for anyone else at the abbey. Overall, Matthew's death negatively affects the different characters in different ways by causing both individual grief and straining character relationships.

     Furthermore, Matthew's death negatively affects the power situation in the abbey by disrupting the balance of power. For a very long time, Lord Grantham had complete financial and business control of the abbey until Matthew came and they had to share control. I noticed that now that Matthew's shares of the estates have been passed down to baby George, Lord Grantham sees an opportunity to take control of the whole abbey again. George's estate shares are controlled by his guardian until he is of a certain age. And with Lady Mary so consumed with grief, Lord Grantham sees the perfect opportunity to grab power again by taking control of George's estate shares while Lady Mary is oblivious to what's going on. He makes subtle attempts to push Mary to 'stay in bed' or 'not bother herself' to attend the abbey's business meetings. This shows how without Matthew helping to run the abbey, the balance of power is disrupted because Matthew's estate shares being up for grabs has caused Lord Grantham to become greedy. He becomes so taken with power that he's willing to undermine his daughter to control the abbey. In addition, I noticed that certain characters were resisting Lord Grantham's power grab and rising above their usual place of silence by encouraging Lady Mary to take an interest in the abbey affairs. One character I noticed doing this was Lady Grantham. She argued in defense of Lady Mary to her husband to give Mary her rightful place in control even though Lady Grantham is usually an outsider to the abbey's business. Another character trying to help keep Lady Mary in power was Tom Branson, Lady Sybil's husband. Tom was very eager to help Lady Mary gain control of George's estate shares because he knew she could do great things to preserve the land and  hold on to Matthew's ideas of economizing and modernizing the abbey. All of this shows how Matthew's death disrupts the balance of power because it causes Lord Grantham to become greedy and then forms a chain reaction of other characters rising up against him to give Mary control of George's estate shares. Overall, Matthew's death negatively affects the power situation by disrupting the balance of power in the abbey family. 
     In conclusion, Matthew's death negatively affects Downton Abbey by causing emotional problems for different characters and by disrupting the power balance in the abbey. Matthew's death consumes Lady Mary with grief, separating her from her loved ones, and makes Mrs. Crawley doubt herself. The death also disrupts the balance of power in the abbey and causes different characters to rise up to fight for who they want to control George's estate shares. When I was closely reading the episode, I noticed something very important in the first few minutes; I noticed that when the Dowager Countess is visiting Matthew's grave with her friend Bill Molesley, Bill says, "..it's a changing world." and she replies, "You don't have to tell me." I think that the idea of the "changing world" refers to the changes in the micro, or the personal emotional hardships of the individual characters and character relationships. And the phrase also refers to the changes in the macro, or the balance of power and control over the abbey. Both the "changing world" of the micro and the macro are connected because of Matthew's death, which affects both the individual characters and the control of the abbey. The "changing world" is also a direct reference to the actual time period the show is taking place in, which was in the year right after World War I in around 1919 when England is changing or adjusting to life after the war. And the financial aspect or power situation of the abbey was a part of that normalization. To summarize, Matthew's death is the connection between the changing world outside the abbey, which relates to the power situation being affected, and the changing world inside the abbey, which was how the different characters were affected by the death. All in all, Matthew's death creates big changes in Downton Abbey by emotionally affecting characters and disrupting the balance of power over the abbey.

The Stolen Party: Labels and Power-Struggle

     The Stolen Party by Liliana Hecker is a story about a young girl named Rosaura who attends the party of her friend Luciana. Rosaura is the daughter of Luciana's maid, but she thinks of herself as a close friend of Luciana's. Every day after school, they would do their homework together. So when Rosaura attends Luciana's party and has a great time, she is shocked at the end of it when Señora Ines, Luciana's mother, hands her cash and thanks for helping to serve the party; implying that she was employment instead of a guest like all the other children. Finding this out shattered Rosaura, because throughout the party she believed she had been popular and had been seen as so much more than just the help. For once in her life, she had actually felt superior and desirable which she almost never felt like as a maid's daughter. The Stolen Party is a story about wanting to be seen as more than a label and the power-struggle between different social classes.
     To begin, The Stolen Party is about wanting to be seen as more than a label. In the story, Rosaura wants to break out of her label as "the maid's daughter" and prove that she is more than just a lower level employee to Luciana. For example, in the text, Rosaura prepares for Luciana's party and then looks at herself in the mirror and "thought she looked terribly pretty." Rosaura's nicely done hair and gorgeous white dress gives her self-confidence and makes her feel like she belongs at the party. The pretty dress is like a defense mechanism because it makes her feel like she has covered up her true self and is a new, rich, and well socially adapted Rosaura. The confidence she gets from looking in the mirror allows her to think of herself on the same social level as all the other richer kids at the party and ignore how she is continuously asked to help bring out food and drinks. Even though she is treated differently than the other kids, her confidence makes her think that she is treated this way out of privilege. She is so determined to break her label that it blinds her to what's really going on. Furthermore, Rosaura tries to break out of her label is when she talks to the girl with the bow at the party. The girl with the bow, Luciana's cousin, approaches Rosaura and asks her who she is, claiming that she can't be one of Luciana's friends because she knows all of them. Rosaura resists this implication, saying that she is Luciana's friend and that she's the daughter of "the employee". The girl with the bow continues to rudely interrogate Rosaura, who defends herself. This shows how even though Rosaura isn't necessarily proud of being the maid's daughter and doesn't want to be labeled that way, she still stands up for herself and is not afraid to speak up to bullies. She doesn't want to be labeled as the maid's daughter, but Rosaura doesn't want to be labeled as someone that shouldn't messed with. Overall, The Stolen Party is about wanting to fit in and not be labeled because of social status.
     Secondly, The Stolen Party is about the power-struggle between different social classes. In the text, Rosaura helps out in the kitchen during the party. When she helps cut the cake, she feels like she has superiority over the other children. Deciding what size cake pieces the kids get while all the kids are yelling for cake makes Rosaura feel like a "queen" and like she has "the power of life or death over her subjects". Cutting the cake makes Rosaura feel special because she believes that she was singled out from all the other kids to do the most important task. However, little does Rosaura know that Señora Ines has seniority over her. At the end of the party when Rosaura is about to leave with her mother, Señora Ines hands Rosaura money instead of a gift. Señora Ines calls Rosaura "my pet" and thanks her for helping to serve the party. This shatters Rosaura's previous image of herself being superior and makes her feel lowly like she's not an equal with Señora Ines or Luciana. Rosaura returns Señora Ines' offer with a cold stare, attempting to resist the idea that she was below her and used a servant the entire party. This shows how Rosaura struggles with Señora Ines because they both come from two very different social classes. Señora Ines' high social status gives her power of Rosaura, who is lower social status because both she and her mother are considered servants. Throughout the party, Rosaura had a false sense of power and position that she didn't see through until the end of the story when Señora Ines acted in a way that clearly showed that Rosaura was powerless. To continue, in the text, it says that Señora Ines stood motionless holding out the money to Rosaura, "As if the slightest change might shatter an infinitely delicate balance". In this quote, the balance being referred to is the balance of social status and power between Rosaura and Señora Ines. After this line, the story ends. This was an intentional craft move the author did because ending the story there makes the reader feel as if one move from Señora Ines or Rosaura might completely shatter their relationship and create chaos in the moment. One action from either character could break the balance between the high class power and the low class resistance. Overall, the Stolen Party is about the power-struggle between different social classes and facing reality of where you stand in the scale of seniority.
     In conclusion, The Stolen Party is a story about wanting to break out of labels and about the power and resistance between different social classes. In the story, Rosaura attempts to break out of her label as "the maid's daughter" and to be considered the same class as all the other kids at Luciana's party. The story is also about power and resistance between different social classes. Throughout the story, Rosaura struggles to fit in with high society. She dreams of becoming rich herself and about not having to worry what other people think of her because she'll have power of other people, just like Señora Ines has power of her and her mother. In real life, people can be treated differently because of social class. Servants can be treated with less respect than richer people. And as morally wrong as it is, people of higher social class can still receive better treatment. And in the real world, people struggle with power and resistance all the time. Many people can disagree and misunderstand who has seniority or power in social situations just like in the book. Overall, The Stolen Party is about the struggles of a lower class girl trying to resist judgements and be seen as part of a higher society.

A Year of Reading: My Top 3 Books of 2013

     This past year of 2013, I read many amazing books that taught me so many life lessons and inspired me throughout the year. I read all different genres of books ranging from science fiction to nonfiction and from young adult to adult books that dealt with all kinds of issues. It was very hard for me to pick my favorites since so many of the books I've read have made a difference in my life and I've found many of them so interesting. But looking back through my ELA notebook and reflecting on my reading life, a few books clearly stood out to me as my favorites. The three best books I read in 2013 were The Outsiders, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, and Wonder because they all taught me important lessons that I now use in my own life through the unique perspectives of the main characters.

     First, one of my top three best books of 2013 is The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton because this book opened up my eyes to the different aspects of society and how people can struggle with day-to-day challenges that other people aren't even aware of. It also taught me a lot about labeling people and how people can struggle to break out of being categorized as one thing or another. In the text, the main character, Ponyboy, grew up being raised by his older brother and living in the bad part of town in Oklahoma in the 1960s, where people were classified as either poor "greasers" or rich "socs".  Throughout the text, Ponyboy references himself as an outsider, wanting to be on the inside. Because he's a "greaser", he is excluded from most of society, but the whole book he fights to be on the inside. Ponyboy secretly wanted to fit in with his peers at school, and not be held to the expectation of being who everyone expected him to be-which was a gangster "greaser" who liked violence and being tough. Ponyboy wanted to be accepted for who he was and not be labeled as a "greaser" because he was poor, or a thug because he hung out with tough people. Ponyboy wanted to fit in with his peers at school who were richer and lived in nicer parts of town; he wanted to make something of himself and be more than just labeled as a "greaser" for his whole life. Reading from Ponyboy's perspective and reading about all the hard experiences he's gone through made me think about how lucky I am to grow up in the nurturing environment I'm in. I know that all kids both back in that time period and today don't have the privileges I have, and can be judged for being different than most other kids. Also, the theme of not labeling people reminded me of the movie The Breakfast Club, where all the kids had a specific label they were called during the movie. In real life, kids can be labeled just like this as one thing or another when really, like Ponyboy, there is so much more to them then their label. Overall, this is one of my favorite books because it taught me about seeing people past their labels. 

     Secondly, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safar Foer is one of my top three books because I learned a lot about dealing with my emotions from the main character Oskar's experiences. For example, during the book, Oskar goes on a quest to find the lock that matches a key he found in his deceased father's possessions. The key intrigues him and he goes on a journey, meeting lots of new people such as Abby Black that affect his life and teach him, as well as the reader, different life lessons. These characters Oskar meets teach him and the reader about standing up for yourself, staying strong, and never forgetting the important people in your life. Additionally, in the book, Oskar struggles with facing the reality of his father's death. In the text, Oskar searches day by day for the lock the key fits even though it seems like a hopeless case just because the key was his one last connection to his father. And even though things didn't work out like he planned, Oskar persevered and never doubted himself. However, in the text, Oskar learns to understand that not matter how hard he tries, he'll never get his dad back. From Oskar's effort and determination to find the lock, I learned about how you should never lose hope in the people you have loved, even if you have lost them. And from his acceptance of the loss of his father, I learned in order to move on, you don't' have to lose hope but you do have to accept reality. 

     Furthermore, Wonder by R. J. Palacio is one of my top three books because it taught me about accepting every one no matter how different they may seem on the outside. For instance, in the book, the main character August has a distorted face that often scared other kids away despite his great personality. Many kids made fun of him, ignored him, and played cruel tricks on him. But he ignored the kids and stayed optimistic, no matter how mean the others were. Two kids, Summer and Jack, saw August's inner beauty and befriended him despite what anyone else thought or said about him. And in the end of the book, all the kids accepted August because they saw how wrong they were to think he wasn't like all other kids just because his face looked a little different. The way August was eventually completely accepted into society when he started as a complete outsider taught me about how judging people for looking different is wrong, and about how you should accept people and embrace them for who they are, and not how they look. This book also taught me about not caring what other people think. In the text, the kids in the school make up a fake disease that August has, similar to the cheese touch in Diary of a Wimpy Kid, that makes none of the kids want to go near him. But even though most of the kids at school won't even willingly go within three feet of August and some make noises if he goes near them, August ignores them. Even when one kid accidentally touches August and runs to wash his hands, August keeps his pain on the inside so that the other kids don't see it bothered him. He tries to keep on a brave face, and the way he controls himself even while the kids are so cruel to him inspired me. From August, I've learned that it shouldn't matter what anyone thinks about you but yourself. As long as you believe in yourself, it doesn't matter what anyone else says or does to bring you down.
     In conclusion, The Outsiders, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, and Wonder were the best three books I read in 2013 because no matter how old or recent they were, all these books taught me timeless lessons that have inspired me throughout this past year. The Outsiders taught me about not labeling people. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close taught me about dealing with your emotions; specifically dealing with grief and overcoming sad times in life. And lastly, Wonder taught me about accepting everyone no matter how different they are on the outside, because they could be the nicest person on the inside. All these books have taught me important lessons and have shown me the world from three very different and unique perspectives. Going into the year 2014, I've made a lot of New Year's Resolutions for myself such as keeping grades up and being nicer to my sister. And one of the resolutions I have made is to make sure I always remember and value the lessons I have learned from all my 2013 reading. In this new year, I hope to learn even more through my reading and find new lessons to use in life. Overall, The Outsiders, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, and Wonder were the best books I read in 2013 because they have made me a better person by teaching me lessons I can use in my own life.