By Carey Huang Class of 2025

How Noise Pollution Affects Cognitive Function: Evaluating the Effects of Noise Pollution on Cognitive Function in Drosophila melanogaster

Editor’s Note: The Taft STEM Research Fellowship is a yearlong, advanced study program for students pursuing interdisciplinary STEM research beyond the classroom. Fellows work closely with faculty and expert mentors, collaborate with peers, and apply their research to real-world problems, culminating in a public presentation to faculty and field professionals. The course combines independent scholarship with structured support and offers opportunities to explore research that bridges multiple STEM disciplines.

Abstract

Environmental noise pollution is linked to cognitive impairment, yet its sensory mechanisms are not fully understood. This study used Drosophila melanogaster to explore the effects of loud noise during feeding on cognitive performance, using food choice behavior as a proxy for decision-making. I hypothesized that wild-type flies would exhibit impaired cognitive function under noise, while deafened flies would remain unaffected. Flies were assigned to four groups: wild-type and deafened, each tested under noise and no-noise conditions. My results revealed that wild-type flies exposed to noise showed a significant shift in food choice distribution compared to silent conditions, suggesting impaired cognitive performance. In contrast, deafened flies did not display significant changes between conditions, underscoring the role of auditory input in mediating these effects. Although these findings support our hypothesis, further research is necessary to confirm the link between noise-induced sensory disruption and cognitive deficits, and to assess the broader implications for human cognition.

Poster

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By Cooper Wang Class of 2025

Detection of Black Ice in Autonomous Vehicles Using Inertial Measurement Based Binary Classification Neural Network

Editor’s Note: The Taft STEM Research Fellowship is a yearlong, advanced study program for students pursuing interdisciplinary STEM research beyond the classroom. Fellows work closely with faculty and expert mentors, collaborate with peers, and apply their research to real-world problems, culminating in a public presentation to faculty and field professionals. The course combines independent scholarship with structured support and offers opportunities to explore research that bridges multiple STEM disciplines.

Abstract

Black ice poses significant challenges to driving, specifically autonomous driving, due to its difficulty to detect and its impacts on vehicle safety. Present methods for detecting black ice, although accurate, are still vulnerable to external environmental influences and cannot function in certain environments. Therefore, the research looks into novel methods of all environment black ice detection, using inertial measurement data collected with a scale model of vehicles to train neural networks for binary classification of road conditions. The resulting method from two separate neural network structures are 98.8% and 99.5% accurate respectively, and deployment of the neural network onto Tensor Processing Units (TPU) is proved to be feasible with the average inference time being 0.75 milliseconds and the standard deviation being 0.13 milliseconds. A Two Proportions Z-Test also proves the method’s improvement in accuracy to be statistically significant.

Poster

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By Hannah Cha Class of 2025

Effects of GABA Treatment on Locomotive Behavior Recovery in Sleep-Deprived Drosophila melanogaster

Editor’s Note: The Taft STEM Research Fellowship is a yearlong, advanced study program for students pursuing interdisciplinary STEM research beyond the classroom. Fellows work closely with faculty and expert mentors, collaborate with peers, and apply their research to real-world problems, culminating in a public presentation to faculty and field professionals. The course combines independent scholarship with structured support and offers opportunities to explore research that bridges multiple STEM disciplines.

Abstract

The prevalence of sleep disorders and chronic sleep deprivation in modern society has become a significant public health concern as the consequences of inadequate sleep extend beyond mere fatigue, impacting various aspects of human health and function. This study investigates the effects of gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) on the recovery rate of locomotive behavior in sleep-deprived Drosophila melanogaster, utilizing the open-field assay to observe their movements. Wild-type flies were categorized into eight groups: female and male, put in an 18-6 LD cycle or 12-12 LD cycle, observed under GABA treatment, and no GABA treatment. Results revealed that the substitution of GABA in wild type flies results in an increased rate of activity, whereas flies fed a traditional diet showed a continuous decrease in locomotor activity. Although the data collected supports the hypothesis, further research is needed to confirm the relationship between GABA application and locomotive behavior.

Poster

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By Addie Mims Class of 2025

Effects of Probiotic Supplementation on Migraine-Related Reversals in C. elegans

Editor’s Note: The Taft STEM Research Fellowship is a yearlong, advanced study program for students pursuing interdisciplinary STEM research beyond the classroom. Fellows work closely with faculty and expert mentors, collaborate with peers, and apply their research to real-world problems, culminating in a public presentation to faculty and field professionals. The course combines independent scholarship with structured support and offers opportunities to explore research that bridges multiple STEM disciplines.

Abstract

Migraine is a common neurological disorder that creates symptoms like intense head pressure, nausea, blurred vision, vomiting, and extreme sensitivity to light, sound, touch, and smell. Migraines disrupt normal neurotransmission, leading to intense symptoms that impair daily life. Current treatments are hard to navigate and can be ineffective and expensive, highlighting the necessity for new and innovative approaches. It has recently been discovered that the gut-brain axis, which connects gut health and brain function, may play a role in migraines. This study explored the link between the gut and migraines using C. elegans as a model. The UNC-2 genotype in C. elegans mimics human migraines, with abrupt directional changes representing migraine episodes. Since C. elegans feed on bacteria, two strains, wildtype and UNC-2, were given one of three bacterial diets, and their movements were observed for one minute. Two of the bacterial diets consisted of probiotic bacteria, which are known to improve gut health. Results showed that UNC-2 C. elegans fed the probiotic diets of Lactobacillus casei or Bifidobacterium lactis had fewer migraine-like episodes than those on an E. coli diet, suggesting a possible link between gut health and migraines.

Poster

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By Leo Lim Class of 2025

Multivariate Analysis and Prediction of the Risk Factors for Concussion in High School Students

Editor’s Note: The Taft STEM Research Fellowship is a yearlong, advanced study program for students pursuing interdisciplinary STEM research beyond the classroom. Fellows work closely with faculty and expert mentors, collaborate with peers, and apply their research to real-world problems, culminating in a public presentation to faculty and field professionals. The course combines independent scholarship with structured support and offers opportunities to explore research that bridges multiple STEM disciplines.

Abstract

Concussion, also known as mild Traumatic Brain Injury, is prevalent among athletes, with short and long-term consequences impacting neurological health and athletic performance. Current diagnostic methods rely on subjective measurements, leading to high rates of undiagnosed concussions, and advanced methods that are highly inefficient and expensive. This study thus aims to develop a multivariate logistic regression model to enhance early detection and risk assessment of adolescent concussions. Using data from federal repositories, such as FITBIR and Normative Athlete Data, 19 risk factors were identified using a logistic regression model through the programming language R. Then, with the identified factors, a logistic regression model was designed, trained, and tested using a 7:3 train-test ratio. To validate the model, a calibration plot and a Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve were used. The Area Under the Curve (AUC) of 0.7045 indicates acceptable predictive performance. As the final product, the model was implemented into a ShinyApp-based website, allowing athletes to readily input data and receive concussion probability estimates.

Poster

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By Jihu Choi Class of 2025

Democratization of American Art Museums: The Changing Admission Policies of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Editor’s Note: The History Fellowship program offers students the opportunity to conduct college-level independent research on a historical topic of their choice, resulting in a substantial academic paper and oral presentation. Through guided discussions, structured support, and access to both on- and off-campus sources, students learn and apply the practices of professional historians.

“In every society and throughout history, excellence costs money,” said the director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (hereinafter “the Met”) Daniel Weiss after announcing that the Met will require an admission fee in 2018.1 The Met is one of 33,000 American museums that require admission fees in order to display “excellence.” Yet the history of access to the world’s greatest museums reflects a far more complicated story than Weiss’ statement would suggest. This paper explores the history of public access to American art museums, focusing on the Met as a case study.

By Karry Kim Class of 2025

Media Coverage of the Rodney King Civil Unrest: An Examination of Ethnic and Mainstream Press

Editor’s Note: The History Fellowship program offers students the opportunity to conduct college-level independent research on a historical topic of their choice, resulting in a substantial academic paper and oral presentation. Through guided discussions, structured support, and access to both on- and off-campus sources, students learn and apply the practices of professional historians.

“People, I just want to say… Can we all get along?” a Black man pleaded in a quivering voice, struggling to hold back his tears. His lips trembled and his breath hitched as if tears would start streaming down his eyes any second, and his unsteady gaze remained facing the ground as if he had done something wrong. Dozens of photographers and reporters surrounded him, documenting the moment on their cameras and scribbling down his words in their notebooks. The man continued his plea to “get along”: “I mean we’ve got enough smog in Los Angeles let alone to deal with setting these fires and things … It’s just not right. It’s not right, and it’s not going to change anything… I mean, we’re all stuck here for a while. Let’s, you know, let’s try to work it out.” This man was Rodney King, whose brutal police beating ignited the most violent and destructive civil unrest in Los Angeles’ history.

By Jolin Yu Class of 2025

Laughing in the Face of Chaos: Absurdist Comedies Across Eras

Editor’s Note: The History Fellowship program offers students the opportunity to conduct college-level independent research on a historical topic of their choice, resulting in a substantial academic paper and oral presentation. Through guided discussions, structured support, and access to both on- and off-campus sources, students learn and apply the practices of professional historians.

What in the world could Socrates, one of history’s most celebrated philosophers, possibly have in common with Eric Cartman, the chaotic antihero of the crude and often outrageous animated series South Park? At first glance, absolutely nothing. One is an emblem of classical thought and reason; the other is a cartoon character known for his selfishness and vulgarity. And yet, these two figures share an unexpected connection, one that might make you rethink how we view comedy, philosophy, and the absurd.