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COURTESY ARCGIS
Features 4
Dr. Ed Nissen from the Department of Geophysics studies seismic activity in the Zagros mountains in Iran. The mountains began forming 20 million years ago and have yet to finish growing, making for many earthquakes in the area.
Sports 7
Opinion 8
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Madison, Wisconsin - Learning comes at a cost: sleep The purpose of sleep perplexes scientists, and though there are common theories, none of them have been proven as fact. However, a recent study may hold a key to understanding the need for getting enough shut-eye every night. Dr. Giulio Tononi and Dr. Chiara Cirelli, leading sleep scientists at the University of Wisconsin, recently published their findings on the importance of sleep to learning in the journal Neuron.
Arlington, Texas - Micro-windmills may hold key for energy future University of Texas at Arlington research associate Smitha Rao and electrical engineering professor J.C. Chiao may have a lightweight solution to the perpetually dying cell phones. Rao and Chiao developed a low-cost micro-windmill under 1.8 mm wide that can produce wind energy. Charging sleeves containing hundreds of the windmills could consequently be developed.
United Kingdom - Massive trench under ice discovered in Antarctica A team of experts from various United Kingdom universities and organizations including the British Antarctic Survey recently discovered the Ellsworth Subglacial Highlands in Antarctica. These highlands appear to be an ancient mountain range hidden beneath the Antarctic ice. Researchers found the deepest trough to be more than 2000 meters below sea level.
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Local News
A Colorado State Patrol Sergeant found over $15,000 when he stopped a vehicle travelling at 95 mph on I-25 near Trinidad. The driver of the vehicle was not the owner and could not explain why he had the vehicle. The police also found a weapon in the vehicle. A judge sentenced Michelle Ann Hebert to five years in prison. Hebert was accused of stealing nearly $600,000 from an elderly couple. She was convicted of two counts of theft form an at-risk adult and eight tax-related charges in December. In Colorado Springs, a man cleaning out his fireplace accidentally set his deck on fire. Embers fell on the deck and started the fire. The man had most of the fire out before firefighters arrived. The 4th Space Control squadron will move from Holloman Air Force Base to Petersen Air Force Base. The move will begin this month and will be completed by the end of the year. The mile marker 420 sign along I-70 has been replaced with a mile marker 419.99. This is the only mile marker 420 sign to be replaced as most highways in Colorado are not long enough to have one. Animals at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo showed Broncos spirit by painting pictures with orange and blue paint. Penguins, orangutans, and red river hogs, among other animals, participated.
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Earthquakes
Hope Sisley Staff Writer
Continued from page 1 Nissen used a satellite technology called InSAR to measure the phase shift in the ground caused by a magnitude 6.0 earthquake on Qeshm Island, in the SFB. InSAR, which has centimeter-scale resolution and an error of only a single centimeter, produces a 3D image called an interferogram, showing how the ground has shifted up or down in response to a quake. An interferogram with a bullseye pattern, such as Nissen and his colleagues found on Qeshm, indicates a buried fault. The wavelength of the bullseye rings allows determination of the depth of the fault, and detailed modelling allows the researchers to make a good estimate of the faults orientation. Following these analyses, Nissen discovered something unexpected: the underground rupture which cause the Qeshm earthquake was centered much shallower than anticipated, at a depth of about 5-8 km, putting it within the competent group of rocks. From this, he inferred the group must contain a weak unit along which slip could have occurred, such as a marlstone. In order to constrain the depth of the fault, Nissens team set up a microseismic measurement network in the area to keep track of aftershocks. They were unable to complete this set-up until about a month after the main quake, so only small aftershocks were registered; the largest ones would have occurred shortly after the original earthquake. The measurement network used the temporal separation between the arrival of the two waves created by each aftershock, P, or pressure waves, which move faster, and S, or shear waves, which move slower, to pinpoint the quakes source and ultimately create a model of the underground structure of the crust. Because aftershock focii tend to cluster around the original rupture, Nissen was surprised to find the aftershocks measured by his network were concentrated far deeper than the original quake, about 10-20 km depth. The measured slip in the competent group, Nissen reasoned, had been triggered by a much deeper, aseismic crustal rupture. He decided to reexamine his original depth calculations for the main quake to be certain the shallow result was not the product of human error. To do this, he used teleseismic data, or the measurements of the waves produced by the quake as collected from distant seismometers. Using a process called teleseismic body-waveform modelling, he was able to constrain the depth of the Qeshm earthquake to between 6 and 10 km depth, a result that agreed with the InSAR data. Finally, he compared the depths calculated for the main quake and the aftershocks against the single available seismic reflection profile for this region. This placed the aftershocks directly in the midst of the Hormuz salt. Because salt flows in response to pressure, it does not fault, therefore, it could not be the source for an earthquake. Yet the Hormuz contains many large blocks of entrenched Cambrian rocks, and flowing of the salt caused by a large earthquake could break up these kilometerscale inclusions, thus inducing the observed microquakes. Nissen did one final analysis to see if this hypothesis was valid. Generally, the magnitude of an earthquake is directly related to the size of the rupture zone that causes it, though the rupture zone may be smaller than the fault itself. As the measured aftershocks ranged in magnitude from 1.0-4.0, Nissen was able to apply this relationship and derive a maximum rupture size of about 1 kilometer. This matches the observed sizes of entrained rock blocks within the Hormuz, thus supporting Nissens hypothesis as to the source of the aftershocks. An earthquake the size of the Qeshm quake, on the other hand, a magnitude 6.0, gives a rupture size of about 10 kilometers. This is smaller than the total thickness of sediments here (~15 kilometers), which means that the seismic portion of the quake did not involve the full thickness of the crust. This suggests that the Hormuz salt serves as a sort of decoupling agent, a fault rupture cannot propagate through the salt, so an earthquake occurs either in the units above or below the salt, but not both. Because the ruptures size is thus limited, the Hormuz also serves to limit the maximum magnitude of an earthquake in this area. Indeed, when only the rock units above the salt are considered, the areas seismicity accounts for most of the local crustal shortening. Though the area is seismically active down to 20 kilometers depth, 75% of this activity occurs in the shallow crust (meaning the sub-salt units are not involved) and only two seismic events have been of magnitude greater than 6.0. Both of these large quakes occurred in association with steep, asymmetrical folds, suggesting that the salt has been locally evacuated from the subsurface. Without the salt as a buffer, rupture size is uninhibited, allowing for much larger earthquakes. If the salt distribution throughout Iran can be better mapped, the earthquake risk can be determined with much better resolution.
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Academic misconduct
What it is and how to prevent it
Jessica Deters Staff Writer
Scientists, researchers and engineers hold the responsibility to develop science for the benefit of society. However, what happens when that responsibility is abused and academic misconduct yields false results in research? Allan Prochazka, Professor of Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine shared his knowledge and experience regarding academic integrity and misconduct at the Jan. 14 Physics Colloquium. To understand misconduct, the line between error and misconduct must be clearly defined. Error is a staple of science, and, according to Prochazka, if a scientist has yet to make an error, they have not done enough science yet. We make mistakes due to carelessness; we make mistakes in terms of interpretation; we make mistakes with the technology, Prochazka said. But, at what point do mistakes become misconduct? The zone between error and misconduct is invariably grey. Prochazka offered ethics as a way to differentiate between the two zones. People talk about different theories of ethics like virtue ethics or utilitarianism. Virtue ethics do come in to play here in that virtues are developed by education and practice. I think for a lot of us, developing habits and automatic defaults are a good way of keeping things straight. While ethics can shine a light on the boundary between error and misconduct, examining human tendencies offers one explanation for the motivation behind misconduct. Humans, by their nature, want to take the easy way out, Prochazka said. We dont want conflict. We want to fit in with the group. We want to ignore difficult issues. What I should do and what I want compete, and to control the wanting self, we have to practice behaviors and have strong societal norms. When misconduct occurs, for whatever reason, public trust can be greatly impacted. Public trust is a key aspect in terms of science, and misconduct in any area, erodes confidence all the way around, Pro-
chazka said. If there is no trust then self-regulation goes away. Any research in a field where findings tend to make headlines, such as medicine or environmental science, can easily find itself subject to public scrutiny. Prochazka offered the global warming email scandal of 2009 as an example. Whats the public perception of climate science? Those emails released five years ago that had climate scientists talking about (climate change) data eroded confidence in the public as to whether there is a global warming issue or not. Public distrust leads to more stringent regulations. However, those regulations do not necessarily deter misconduct. The rates of inappropriate behavior are more common than one would wish, Prochazka said. Lifetime rates of cheating may be as high as 80 percent. Ultimately, Prochazka offered a solution to the academic misconduct dilemma. I think academic integrity and trying to practice responsible conduct in research is the key to trust. If there is no trust, there is going to be no science.
Continued from Page 2 Madison, Wisconsin The scientists developed the synaptic homeostasis sleep, or SHY hypothesis. SHY states that the importance of sleep is in the abilities to save energy by weakening brain cell connections, avoid stress on the cellular level,
and maintain neurons ability to respond to stimuli. According to Tononi, sleep is the price the brain pays for learning and memory. During wake, learning strengthens the synaptic connections throughout the brain, increasing the need for energy and saturating the brain with new information, Tononi said.
Sleep allows the brain to reset, helping integrate, newly learned material with consolidated memories, so the brain can begin anew the next day. United Kingdom The range was discovered by analyzing existing data and by gathering new data via ice-pene-
trating radars. Dr. Neil Ross, lead author of the published findings and professor at Newcastle University, categorized finding the hidden mountain range as incredibly serendipitous and an indicator to how little we still know about the surface of our own planet. Arlington, Texas
When the phone is out of battery power, all you need to do is to put on the sleeve, wave the phone in the air for a few minutes and you can use the phone again, Chiao said. On a large scale, the energy produced by the micro-windmills could generate energy for an entire house or building.
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Google Glass opens the window to the next generation of personal wearable smart devices.
Divergenta dystopian thrill Dont dread YA book builds on success of Hunger Games Dredmor dungeon
Jessica Deters Staff Writer
At sixteen, Tris along with her brother and all of the other sixteenyear-olds in the small nation find Everyday people make deci- themselves faced with a choice that sions based on core beliefs. Some will determine their futures. Though value honesty and bravery, oth- the teens grow up in the faction ers the pursuit of knowledge, but to which they are born, at sixteen rarely does a person base every each is offered the opportunity to single decision throughout their life remain in the faction they call home on one sole value. Veronica Roths or transfer. In order to facilitate this Divergent wields a world in which process, the factions administer an children are COURTESY HARPERCOLLINS aptitude test to raised by only each teen. The one virtuethe test consists of a virtue their parsimulation, which ents believe will fabricates various lead to world ethical dilemmas. harmony. The Each dilemma is citizens live in designed to test one of five facthe teens core tions in a futurbeliefs, and the istic society, set test ultimately ofwhere modernfers each teen the day Chicago faction in which currently rethey would best sides. Each fit. faction values a Tris, however, different ideal: does not receive a Abnegation, or result. Rather, the selflessness; test reads inconAmenity, peace; clusive, and she Candor, honreceives the most esty; Dauntless, Divergent is a good book dreaded of labelsbravery; Erudite, for Hunger Games fans. -divergent. Diverknowledge. For gence is viewed example, a child raised in Candor as a threat to the entire faction syswould be taught to be brutally hon- tem. The only hope for a divergent est without regard for anything else, is to hide and remain undetected in including the feelings of others. A whichever faction they choose. child raised in Abnegation would After Tris chooses a faction, she be raised to be completely selfless, discovers a vicious plot by an aualways putting others needs above thoritarian leader of one faction to her own. eliminate all divergents and take over the nation. Tris must fight for survival amidst increasingly turbulent times. Divergent emphasizes choosing a way of lifechoosing either to live as one was raised or break free of ones upbringing. I think the reason so many people have connected with it is because its something you can identify with, Roth said in an interview with Summit Entertainment. At some point in everyones life, they must choose to stick to or break with their upbringing. In a way, Roth constructs and explores her version of a utopia in Divergenta land in which each member of society fits a niche of their choosing and lives amongst like-minded citizens. However, an inert fear of anyone not fitting into one of the five predetermined moldsa fear of divergencepermeates throughout the factions, ultimately transforming Roths perfect society into a dystopia. Roths exploration of this dystopian society proves fascinating, especially for fans of Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games. Both series explore a futuristic version of what is now the United States, and both feature deep divisions throughout the society whether it be via faction, district, ideals, or social status. However, Roths world proves much more egalitarian and much less cruel than Collins as Roths factions live symbiotically and offer citizens social mobility. The film version of the novel, also titled Divergent, premieres March 21 in theaters.
the various fungi encountered throughout the game. If the player wants to play a vegan Indiana Jones-esque archaeologist who fights with dual-wielded axes and can throw fireballs that is absolutely possible. The skill system is one of the games most enjoyable features because of the shear variety of play styles made through the system. The games small but loyal online following is devoted to finding skill combinations to make optimal runs, focus on combat, emulate characters from other fictional worlds, and skills that are useless together for those who want an even greater challenge than already presented. The character will then delve through ten levels of randomized monsters, traps, and treasure making for a unique experience each time the game is played anew. Dungeons of Dredmor is a very enjoyable game to just pick up and play a level at a time just because of how different the game can be each time. It is also probably one of the most easily accessible Roguelike games for anyone who has wanted to try the genre out but have been turned off by more difficult ones such as NetHack and Dwarf Fortress. The game and three DLC extensions are available Steam and Desura with the soundtrack available on Bandcamp.
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Geek Week
of the
ever spare time you can find? I have a choice now between Minecraft, attempting things I will never finish such as writing JIF in Haskell, or periodically storming the galaxy with some buddies of mine in a Firefly RPG. What is your favorite thing about Mines? The consolidation of a group of people that are excited about similar topics. If given the chance, which would you rather explore: the untouched frontier of another planet or the unexplored depths of the ocean? Another planet, easy. If you are under the ocean, you have to be surrounded by water [and] there is a limit to the things you can do. If you are on another planet, there is a chance of air. You might be able to run around and do stuff. And, Im pretty sure you cant talk to sea creatures, though Aquaman would contest that. If you could be dropped into any fictional universe, what would it be and why? Traditionally, I would say [the] Star Wars [universe because of] the variety of species, the possibilities, and the wealth of technological possibilities. What is your best nerd moment story? One of my earlier nerd moments would have been when me and my friends realized it was 4 A.M. and we had been playing Minecraft for way too long. It was a collective realization. What are your greatest accomplishments? Ive had an internship since after freshman year, Im on time to graduate, and Im turning a blind pilot character into a Force-using version of the Doctor [in my RPG]. Which would you rather have: the ability to psychically know test questions in advance or the ability to finish any homework assignment in under an hour? The ability to finish any homework assignment in under an hour because some of my homework assignments are, make a large program that would normally take a week and finishing in under an hour would be god-like. Also, it would hopefully bleed out into real-world ability where test questions would only be applicable at school. Do you have any plans for the future? Get Bachelors, get Masters, find a good job at an exciting company. Finding an exciting company is nontransferable. Do you have any advice for fellow geeks and Mines students? Accept failure. Theres a lot you can learn from it, but also dont look for failure because then youll be a failure. And dont try and un-
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Matt Buland, senior, plans to continue with a Masters degree and then on to a career with an exciting company.
ings of several characters, Luke in particular, as the story progresses. This imitation of the Bards unique tendencies in writing also lends itself to some excellent dialogue that balances well between wisdom and wit. Of course, no imitation of this sort would be complete without some of the glorious insults that Shakespeare tended to slip into his plays, so there are some really funny reprimands and retorts, including a wonderful moment where C3PO warns R2-D2, Be thou not technical with me, or else thine input valve may swift receive a hearty helping of my golden foot. It is, at its core, a re-telling of A New Hope, but the style and additions this book makes not only add to the tale without taking anything away, but it also gives the reader a fresh perspective on a story he likely already knows well. The story is similar enough to the kind Shakespeare tended to write that fans of his work should quite enjoy this book. Even people who do not usually like Shakespeare may find themselves pleasantly surprised by how much they might like this work. It functions well as a story in its own right and is not a bad way to teach Star Wars fans how to interpret and understand a Shakespearean story. There is something in this book for everyone to enjoy and a path of literary discovery awaits reader. To quote Ian Doescher, the author of this delightful mash-up, May the verse be with you.
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Orediggers stay hot Late 3-point play tops UCCS with win at UCCS
Jared Riemer Content Manager Jared Riemer Content Manager
The No. 13 School of Mines mens basketball team went on the road Friday night to UCCS and captured the 77-54 victory bringing them to 13-1 on the season (9-1 in the RMAC). The Orediggers used a stifling defense and all five starters in double digits to regroup after their first loss of the season. The Orediggers took the lead at 3-2 less than two minutes into the game and never surrendered it jumping out to a 10 point lead, 199, at the halfway point of the first half. At halftime the Orediggers led 36-29, and never let the Mountain Lions get any closer to winning for the rest of the game. The Orediggers outscored UCCS 24-14 in the first 10 minutes of the second half to lead 60-43, on the way to a 23 point victory. Mines limited the mountain lions to just 25 second half points and held UCCS to a 30.9% shooting percentage and 23.1% from behind the arch while shooting 49.1% themselves from the field, 35.7% from three, and 18-20 from the charity stripe (90%). The Orediggers out-rebounded UCCS 38-33 and had 34 points in the paint, 10 more than the mountain lions. Senior Trevor Wages led the team with 15 points and added three blocks and seven rebounds while Brett Green (senior) chipped in 14 points, two assists, and four rebounds. Senior Luke Meisch had 13 points, four rebounds, three steals, three assists, and one block and juniors Trevor Ritchie and Brian Muller added 12 and 10 points respectively as well as three rebounds and one assists each. Trey Winbush grabbed six rebounds and Will Carr had four rebounds and seven points off the bench for the Orediggers. The Orediggers are home this Friday against Adams State, so come out and support your Orediggers. The Colorado School of Mines womens basketball team squared off against UCCS on Friday and ended their four game losing streak in exciting fashion. Thanks to a three-point play by senior Allie Grazulis in the waning seconds, Mines pulled off the 55-54 road victory. Mines never trailed by more than two points in the game, and their largest lead was nine points, less than five minutes into the second half (33-24). After a closely contested game throughout, Mines grabbed a four point lead at 52-48 with 1:44 remaining after a three pointer by senior Katie Clements. UCCS responded with six straight points and held a two point advantage, 54-52, with just 24 seconds left on the clock. After a timeout with 18 seconds to go, Grazulis made a contested jumper in the paint and was fouled. Needing the freethrow to take the lead and complete a three-point play, Grazulis sunk the shot to give the Orediggers the lead. With just 11 seconds on the clock, UCCS heaved up desperation three-pointer at the buzzer, missing as time expired to hand Mines the one point road win. Grazulis led the way in scoring for Mines with 22 points, and added seven rebounds and two
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assists. Freshman Laura Tyree added 10 points, three assists, and two rebounds, while Sophomore Courtney Martin and Junior Taylor Helbig chipped in eight each off the bench; Martin added five rebounds and a block as well. Senior Tory Langas led the team with three steals and added two assists and four rebounds. The Orediggers shot 40% as a team from the field, 26.3% from three, and 76.9% from the freethrow line. They held UCCS to just 9.1% from behind the arch and 39.6% overall. UCCS held a 3330 rebounding advantage, but the Orediggers led the way in second chance points with 11 to only 4 by the Mountain Lions.
(Michelle Rigsby finished third, Kayla Johnson fifth, Amanda Giles eighth, and Amber Harley ninth). Johnson, Rigsby, and Harley would later go on to take first, second, and fourth place finishes respectively in the womens triple jump finals. Cassie Ratzlaff notched a third place finish in the womens shot put finals, as well as finishing fourth in the womens weight throw along with Hannah Weidman, who grabbed sixth. Ben Timmer secured the mens pole vault title for CSM, and the mens long jump finals saw Mines take fifth (Marc Leachman) and sixth (Kento Okamoto). Leachman went on to finish second in the mens triple jump final, while the mens shot put final had Jace Warren take third place and Jacob Hollister eighth. Mens weight throw finals rounded out the competitions events, and five Orediggers were able to place in the top ten of the event (Ryan Ewen in third, Nicolo Redfern fourth, Hollister fifth, Warren seventh, and Sam Pauling tenth). Overall, this was a strong showing by both the mens and womens teams, and both teams will look to ride the momentum they have gained into next weekends invitational at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. That three-day event kicks off at 1pm on Thursday, January 23rd, and continues on Friday the 24th at 9am and wraps up on Saturday the 25th beginning at 10am.
the match to 19-9. New Mexico Highlands took a quick six points with a pin at heavyweight (285 pounds), but in the 125-pound match, Luis Gurule captured the 6-5 hard-fought victory over Erick Rangel giving Mines their final points of the Match, 25-12. The final two bouts at 133 and 141 pounds were won by NMHU by result of pin and major decision respectively to give the Cowboys a 34-12 victory spoiling the injuryridden Orediggers home-opener. Next up for the Orediggers (01) are the CSU-Pueblo Thunderwolves, this Wednesday in Pueblo.
another scoring streak of their own earlier would prove to be enough, to tie the game at 38. In the next as they held on for the 55-47 vicfour minutes, the lead changed tory. hands three times until with only Coming off of the bench, Helbig 1:50 left, Mines held a slim 46-43 had a fantastic night, leading all advantage. After a minute filled scorers with 17 points (including 7 with missed shots and timeouts in the last 45 seconds of the game). from both teams, the Orediggers Tory Langas also put up double lead was still only three points, and figures with 13 points, as well as the game five ...with 41 seconds left in registering still seemed rebounds and up in the air. the game, Taylor Helbig hit two assists. But with 41 Despite being seconds left a clutch three point jump edged by the in the game, Thunderwolves Taylor Helbig shot to push the lead to in overall shoothit a clutch ing percentage, three point six. Fourteen seconds later, the difference in jump shot this game came Helbig sealed the win for down to Mines to push the lead to six. owning the deMines by hitting two late cisive advanFourteen seconds tages in threefree throws. later, Helbig point shooting sealed the win for Mines by hitting (50% vs. 11.1%) and free throw two late free throws, extending the shooting (91.7% vs. 50%). Oredigger lead to eight and all but After winning consecutive preventing CSU-Pueblo from be- games for the first time all season ing able to mount a comeback. long, the Lady Orediggers will look Though down, the Thunderwolves to extend their season long winnever showed signs of quitting, ning streak to three games next scoring two layups with less than Friday night against Adams State. 15 seconds on the clock and play- Taking place during Alumni Weeking to the very last moment. But end here in Golden, that game tips the lead built up by the Orediggers off at 6pm in Lockridge Arena.
Orediggers also outrebounded CSU-Pueblo 41-37, and committed nine fewer turnovers on the night. Mines will seek their third straight win next Friday night here in Golden against Adams State. That game tips off at 8pm on Friday, January 24 in Lockridge Arena, so come support your Orediggers.
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o p i n i o n
Northern Lights
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