Summer 2022

 

 

 Summer 2022

2022 has been a year to remember so far. Right, I have lived on this Earth for 38 years, and I'm excited to be alive to witness the massive developments of this unique generation. Both positive and negative changes have existed from high inflation to new discoveries made relating to science. One thing remains clear. That point is that we must be in favor of the side of history. In America and throughout the world, we have witnessed massive opponents of democracy (like Donald Trump, Steve Bannon, and other people) gaining power or enacting unjust laws that harm the democratic rights of the people. The Republican Party is not only far-right extremist now as it's controlled by Donald Trump plus other bigots. It is a party that embraces open neo-fascists who believe in the myth that the 2020 election was stolen. Some of them believe in the old myth that gun rights should have no regulations under any circumstance when children have died nationwide as a product of vicious gun violence. That is unjust completely. The Supreme Court has many members who believe that justice must exist for some people, not for all people. Some members of the court embrace the archaic concept of originalism. It doesn't make sense, because society evolves and the expansion of human rights against oppression is a blessing, not a detriment to human social progress. The Constitution is clear that new rights from social, economic, and scientific progress have the right to exist via Congress passing laws (and the Supreme Court making sure that rights are protected). Trump is so extreme, that according to Mike Esper, Trump wanted to attack Mexico without due cause. Tyrants like Putin not only promote propaganda from Russia Today. RT boss Simonyan sees nuclear war as the likely outcome of a Russian defeat. Fascism is a global problem, and it must be defeated in the 21st century indeed. 

The 2022 racist terrorist attack in Buffalo, NY on black people (including 2 white people) via a vicious hate crime shows us that the evil of racism must be condemned. It must be eradicated completely. The murderer had multiple 30-round magazines. The murderer had a 180-page manifesto that promoted the evil lie of replacement theory. This lie teaches the myth that there is a conspiracy by certain people to eliminate the entire white population from the face of the Earth. The murderer hated black people, Jewish people, and immigrants as shown in his wicked manifesto. He killed innocent people in a Buffalo supermarket on Saturday, May 14, 2022. This act was an act of racially motivated violent terrorism. His murders were shown on Twitch until Twitch banned it. Local authorities and the FBI are investigating the tragedy. A peaceful rally has existed to show compassion to the victims and their families. The Buffalo mayor is right to say that the murders are a racist hate crime period. The killer's name is Payton Gendron. He was not from Buffalo but an area many miles outside of the community. He is from Conklin, New York. Gendron used body armor and had three firearms. He has a semiautomatic rifle, a hunting rifle, and a shotgun. He had a head-mounted camera. On one weapon, there was a racial slur on it. The shooter shot 4 people in the parking lot. Then, he shot people in the store, yelling out racist slurs at people. This proves that racism is not gone. We have an epidemic of racism in America plus throughout the world (when many black Libyans suffer slavery, and many black people are victims of overt terrorism). Trump, far-right extremists, and far-right media propagandists have promoted this xenophobia, racism, and hatred for decades. 

Today, the biggest domestic threat in America is still far-right white racist terrorism. The police talked the killer in Buffalo down from committing suicide. Erie County D.A. John Flynn is looking into potential terrorism and hate crimes. The murderer (who threatened human lives before, and warning signs were ignored) faces life in prison without parole as the maximum sentence. The worship of guns above the respect for the dignity of human life is the epitome of the philosophy of far-right extremism. The killer traveled over 100 miles to murder black people because of racial hatred. That's evil. These liars even call legitimate gun regulations equivalent to gun confiscation of law-abiding citizens. That is a lie. We don't want law-abiding citizens to be stripped of their rights. We want regulations on guns, so lives can be saved. There's a difference. Geraldine Talley was one of the victims being only 62 when she passed. She was shopping with her fiancé. New York Governor Kathy Hochul has announced $2.8 million in funding for the victims and their families. A heroic security Aaron Salter sacrificed his life to save others, and he was murdered by the gunman. Also, Buffalo has a long history of racial discrimination, segregation, and economic oppression. So, we must deal with the structural forms of oppression to make Buffalo and the world better.

There are a record 86 million people forcibly displaced worldwide. This percentage has grown over the years. This number is about the size of the population of Germany and more than one percent of the total world's population (which is about 7.9 billion people). This situation has been caused by wars, conflicts, imperialism, natural disasters, and the actions of many of the world's large corporations including governments. Millions of people are being displaced from Africa, Europe, and Asia. While multinational corporations try to get the mineral resources of the DRC in Africa, many people suffer displacement (over 4.5 million Congolese people). The situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, loss of employment, global travel restrictions, and other negative events have exacerbated the problem. The Ukrainian war continues. Russia is trying to consolidate power in Eastern and Southern Ukraine. Putin wants to continue the conflict, so people are less likely to care. Yet, Putin is a far-right tyrant who has been involved in violations of international law and violating the civil liberties of his own people in Russia. Therefore, we are clear on what the truth is. Ukrainian forces are fighting back in the South. America is sending long-range missiles to Ukraine. Putin's blockade of the Black Sea will cause further food crises worldwide. That is why Putin is not some sacrosanct leader. He's a liar, a denier of truth, and an evil person.

Gop Rep. Gohmert made the lie that Democrats are responsible for the mass gun shooting epidemic in American society. The reality is that gun violence has been around for a long time as a product of a glorification of death via guns, the acts of guns themselves, a breakdown of refusal of gun safety laws, and evil people using weapons to cause mayhem against innocent people. Gun violence doesn't discriminate. It has harmed the lives of Democrats, Republicans, and people of every color and background. Gohmert said that Republicans don't deserve to be criticized. He is a liar. For decades, the GOP leadership has refused to pass federal legislation to confront gun violence. You don't confront gun crimes by tokenism, incrementalism, and the status quo. You need strong federal legislation that deals with guns. Dealing with guns for real has nothing to do with total gun bans or eliminating the Second Amendment. It has to do with enriching communities and saving human lives for real. Like many of people like Gohmert does, he blames cities run by Democrats. This is an old lie refuted by many reasons. First, many gun crimes exist after gun trafficking from lax gun states to urban areas. Second, gun crimes have nothing to do with political affiliation. Crime is crime. Third, many Democratic leaders in many cities aren't super progressive as many of them are moderates (following gentrification, harsh criminal justice policies, and austerity). Another lie that Gohmert said is that gun safety laws will create more murder, when the assault weapons ban from 1994 to 2004 lowered the crime rate with guns in America (proven by the statistics).

STEM Part 5: The Culture of STEM

For thousands of years, STEM Field culture has been cultivated in diverse ways. From textbooks to movies, its culture is diverse, widespread, and growing. Today we have some of the most advanced technological advances in human history from smartphones to advanced vehicles. Still, the digital divide remains a serious problem that we must address prodigiously. It is not right to witness poorer people lack the massively new waves of technologies that human beings (who are not poor) readily have. Real work has been shown to expand the culture of STEM Fields. With new cultural changes all of the time, we see more BIPOC people, women, and other human beings working in STEM-related occupations constantly. BIPOC stands for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. With the advent of Google Certification programs, ITT, and other universities offering certain science-related programs, there has been a massive growth of STEM scholars. There are new efforts to recruit women to have STEM fields too. The common lie is that STEM is just for men. That lie is refuted by the fact that some of the greatest STEM experts in human history have been women like Katherine Johnson, Dr. Marie M. Daly, Vivien Thomas, Lyda Newman, Nola Hylton, and Bessie Blount Griffin. 

There is equality among men and women. Equality doesn't mean that everyone is identical (i.e. even relatives will have some genetic differences). Equality means that all people have equal worth, should have equal rights, and can achieve massive, excellent accomplishments in their lives. STEM culture relates to science teachers giving assignments to students. It deals with scholars being involved in documentaries about STEM. It is about game-changers who can inspire future generations to achieve their goals massively. Not to mention that movies as diverse as Stand and Deliver, 1968: A Space Odyssey, and Hidden Figures (that praised black American STEM heroes) were forthright in describing the value of STEM expression (in fictional and non-fictional stories). Interstellar is one of the most fascinating fiction STEM-related films of our generation. It deals with a thriller and a person's travel into outer space. The movie is composed of the issues of family, emotion, curiosity, risks, and human space exploration in general. We do have this right to build up a positive culture where people, who want to express themselves in STEM, have the just opportunities in doing so. In that way, the whole Universe is blessed. 

 

The Influence of STEM

The influence of STEM is hugely widespread. From riding a car to creating complex computer programs, STEM fields are everywhere in our society. The paradox of STEM in our modern age is that most STEM jobs are in high demand, but many people struggle to get them because tons of STEM jobs require a significant amount of training and certifications. The good news is that the Internet and new educational opportunities alone have allowed many human beings of every background to get the wisdom and education necessary to gain a foothold in STEM careers. Medicine, relating to natural, physical, and life sciences all help with fighting diseases, improving longevity among human beings, and describing the nature of genetics in general. To know about the human body and life, you have to understand about atoms and molecules. Multiple atoms will make up molecules. The human body is made up of many chemical elements. To start, the human body is made up of atoms and molecules. These particles develop into cells. These cells are the major building blocks of organ systems (as cells come together to form many organs of the human body. The human body is a complex, multi layered system). You need to know about chemistry to know our body too. We are made up of many elements found around the Universe. Hydrogen and helium are elements needed in the Universe. That is why atoms, molecules, and elements help to produce life. The human body has oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, potassium, magnesium, sodium, and chlorine, including iron (many of these elements are necessary to develop proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. Calcium in the body is needed for bone strength, blood clotting, and helping the nerves including the muscles. So, in essence, human beings are made from the star dust or elements from the Universe itself). 

Additionally, there is physiology or how organs function. Humanity has survived these thousands of years with the grown of brain complexity and endocranial volume. We, as human being, differ in height, weight, faces, skin color, and somatotype. These differences related to human diversity and never inferiority. Computer technology doesn't just deal with cell phones and laptops. It relates to digital phones, HD TVs with high-definition graphics, and the way on how people create algorithms. Not to mention that when you deal with engineering, it can relate to 3-D printing, CAD, and new advanced technologies developing all of the time in the 21st century. Mathematics is found in human beings, nature, and around the Universe. Mathematical laws and formulas are known more now about the orbits of planets, the rising of tides, Phi, and how DNA flows among the human race. DNA is heavily filled with biology and mathematics. 

STEM Leaders (of Black People and other People of Color including Women)

It is always important to celebrate past and modern-day STEM experts. These human beings used experiments, inventions, and other forms of research to build up our civilization. Their work will never be forgotten or omitted in the midst of book bans and anti-black history teachings common in Florida plus other places today in 2022. Black Excellence is ever real back then and today. It will continue in the future as well. We live in a new decade of time where tons of people have access to, I Pads, apps, and other devices that give a mountain level amount of facts to the general public. This technology will grow, and it is important for human beings to understand about the legends who built a foundation where STEM thrives currently. Granville Woods was one of the greatest STEM heroes in history. He lived from April 23, 1856 to January 30, 1910. He was an inventor who held more than 50 patents in the United States. Also, he was the first African American mechanical and electrical engineer after the Civil War. For years, Woods was self taught, so he worked on trains and streetcars. One of his greatest inventions was the device that he called the Synchronous Multiplex Railway Telegraph. Graville Tailer Woods was born in Columbus, Ohio. He worked as a fireman on the Danville and Southern Railroad in Missouri. Then, he was an engineer. Woods invented and patented Tunnel Construction for the electric railroad system. He worked to improve subway systems and controlling electrical lights in theaters. Woods also invented improvements to the air brake system for trains. By 2006, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. 

One of the greatest STEM experts in human history was Annie Easley. She lived from April 23, 1933 to June 25, 2011. She was a computer scientist, a mathematician, and a rocket scientist. She worked for the Lewis Research Center (now Glenn Research Center) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). Easley was a leading member of the team that developed software for the Centaur rocket stage. That is why she was one of the first African Americans to work at NASA. By 2015, she was posthumously inducted into the Glenn Research Hall of Fame. On February 1, 2021, a crater on the moon was named after Easley by the IAU. Before the modern-day Civil Rights Movement, educational and career opportunities for African American children were very limited. Jim Crow apartheid existed, and Annie's mother told her that she could be anything. Her mother wanted Anie Easley to work at it. She encouraged Annie to get a strong, potent education. From 5th grade through high school, Annie attended Holy Family High School. She graduated valedictorian. When Annie Easley was young, she wanted to be a nurse, but at 16 she wanted to study pharmacy. By 1950, Easley enrolled in classes at Xavier University in New Orleans. She majored in pharmacy for 2 years. By 1977, she earned her Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Cleveland State University.

In 1955, Easley read a story in a local newspaper about twin sisters who worked for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) as "computers." She applied for a job the next day and was hired two weeks later. Annie was one of four African Americans out of about 2500 employees. She started to work as a computer expert at the NACA Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory (which became NASA Lewis Research Center, 1958-1999, and later the John H. Glenn Research Center) in Cleveland, Ohio. 

Later, she was a computer technician and mathematicians when electronic computers were being used at NASA. She completed internal specialization courses to be a professional. She was unfairly denied financial aid that other employees received for education, without explanation from the agency.  She also noted that she did not feel that her pay was very high when she first started with two years of college. Although she was promised a GS-3 in her interview, her first paycheck was a GS-2, and when she questioned it, she was told there were no more GS-3s available

Easley's outreach for minorities did not end with her volunteer work at college career days. At NASA, she took upon herself to be an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) counselor. This was one of the formal ways that she helped her supervisors at NASA address discrimination complaints from all levels.  She was also part of a recruitment effort on behalf of NASA for engineering students from numerous colleges

Her 34-year career included developing and implementing computer code that analyzed alternative power technologies, supported the Centaur high-energy upper rocket stage, determined solar, wind and energy projects, and identified energy conversion systems and alternative systems to solve energy problems. During the 1970s Easley worked on a project examining damage to the ozone layer. With massive cuts in the NASA space program, Easley began working on energy problems; her energy assignments included studies to determine the life use of storage batteries, such as those used in electric utility vehicles. Her computer applications have been used to identify energy conversion systems that offer the improvement over commercially available technologies. Following the energy crisis of the late 1970s, Easley studied the economic advantages of co-generating power plants that obtained byproducts from coal and steam.  After retiring in 1989, she remained an active participant in the Speaker's Bureau and the Business & Professional Women's Association.  Despite her long career and numerous contributions to research, she was cut out of NASA's promotional photos. In response to one such event, Easley responded by saying "I'm out here to do a job and I knew I had the ability to do it, and that's where my focus was, on getting the job done. I was not intentionally trying to be a pioneer." which showed that she placed her work and solving problems before everything else. 

Sister Dr. Yvonne Cagle is 62 years old. Dr. Cagle was born in West Point, New York. She is a physician, a professor, a retired Air Force colonel, and a former NASA Astronaut. She has been in NASA as an astronaut in 1996 being one of 6 African American women astronauts. Her birthdate was April 24, 1956. She graduated from Novato High School in Novato, California. She earned many degrees and joined the aviation industry too. Dr. Cagle graduated from San Franscisco State University in 1981 with a bachelor's degree in biochemistry. She was a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Washington in 1985. Dr. Cagle completed a transitional internship at Highland General Hospital in Oakland, California by 1985. By 1988, she received a certificate in Aerospace Medicine from the School of Aerospace Medicine at Brooks Air Force Base, Texas. Dr. Cagle completed a residency in family practice at Ghent FP at Eastern Virginia Medical School in 1992 plus received a certification as a senior aviation medical examiner from the Federal Aviation Administration in 1995. She was an outstanding colonel at the Air Force too. She retired from the United States Air Force with the rank of Colonel in 2008. By 1989, she was a commissioned medical officer assigned to the 48th Tactical Hospital at the United Kingdom. Dr. Cagle was an astronaut by 1996 at NASA. She served as the NASA liaison for exploration and space development with Singularity University. Dr. Cagle has taught STEM related subjects nationwide.  Dr. Cagle has received many awards for years and decades like the Outstanding Young Women of America award, Honorary Ph.D. in Humanities from Fordham University, Air Force Achievement Medal, etc. In 2017, she brought Katherine Johnson to the stage at the Academy Awards. She was a TEDx speaker in 2018 on the subject of "Poetry of space" on Earth. Dr. Cagle is a living legend.

Rick Antonius Kittles is an expert STEM expert. He was born in Sylvania, Georgia, and he is an American biologist specializing in human genetics. People know him of pioneering work in tracing the ancestry of African American via DNA testing. During the 21st century, more black Americans are researching our heritage via DNA tests and other modes of investigation. He was raised in Central Islip, New York. He has B.S. degree in biology from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1989. He earned a Ph.D. in biology from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. by 1998. In 1990 he began his career as a teacher in several New York and Washington, D.C. area high schools. From approximately 1995 until 1999, as a researcher with the New York African Burial Ground Project (NYABGP), a federally funded project in New York City, in which Howard University researchers, led by anthropologist Michael Blakey, exhumed the remains of 408 African Americans from an 18th-century graveyard; Kittles gathered DNA samples from the remains and compared them with samples from a DNA database to determine from where in Africa the individuals buried in the graveyard had come from.

Beginning in 1998, as he was completing his Ph.D. at George Washington University, Kittles was hired as an assistant professor of microbiology at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and also named director of the African American Hereditary Prostate Cancer (AAHPC) Study Network at the university's National Human Genome Center. Kittles also co-directed the molecular genetics unit of Howard University's National Human Genome Center. He served in these positions until 2004. Beginning in 2004, he served as an associate professor in the Department of Molecular Virology, Immunology & Medical Genetics at the Tzagournis Medical Research Facility of Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.

He is currently the leader of the Washington, D.C.-based African Ancestry Inc., a genetic testing service for determining individuals' African ancestry, which he co-founded with Gina Paige in February 2003. He also serves as an associate professor in the Department of Medicine and the Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Illinois, Chicago. He found out that he descends from the Dakar, Senegal and Nigeria's Hausa people. He published works on genetic variation and prostate cancer genetics of African Americans. He has been featured in part 4 of the 2006 PBS series African American Lives (hosted by Henry Louis Gates). He was in part 4 of African American Lives 2. He was in the BBC Two films of Motherland: A Genetic Journey and Motherland – Moving On (released in 2003 and 2004, respectively). Kittles was one of the earliest geneticists to trace the ancestry of Africans through DNA testing. This led, as mentioned in the biography section, him to co-found the company African Ancestry Inc., which set out to be the leading advocate for tracing the ancestry of individuals with African descent. Now, Kittles and his team have been doing genetic sequencing trials to try and find variations in genes that affect a person's response to drugs. He has studies genetic ancestry, health disparities, and other issues for years (including sickle cell anemia, red blood cell immune response, breast cancer, colon cancer, and pulmonary hypertension). 

“I was very blessed in always knowing what I wanted to do, and by the grace of God Ive been able to succeed in my chosen career.”

— Nichelle Nichols

STEM Related Movies and TV Shows

STEM movies and TV shows are very commonplace back in the day and today in 2022. The beauty of this situation is that they are diverse. You have movies like Hidden Figures that deals with black American scientists who helped NASA to use mathematical formulas to allow spacecraft to travel efficiently in space. The 2016 film starred many people. Their names are Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae, Kevin Costner, Mahershala Ali, Aldis Hodge, Kirsten Dunst, Glen Powell, Jim Parson, Saniyya Sidney, Kimberly Quinn, and Ashton Tyler. You have the movie Stand and Deliver about a Hispanic American teacher Jaime Escalante (played by Edward James Olmos) working to help his students know about calculus in a unique way. Halt and Catch Fire is a show about women contributing to the development of the personal computing revolution (and the development of the World Wide Web during the 1980's and the 1990's). The 1980's was a decade filled with creative energy. X-Files is a science fiction TV show of the 1990's that followed 2 investigators into finding evidence of the reality of alien life. I remember that show when I was a kid during the 1990's. It still has a popular following to this very day. Star Trek, since the 1960's, has inspired research into space and STEM-related topics too. Many people in Star Trek like Nichelle Nichols broke down barriers to increase representation in a diverse fashion. Comic Cons worldwide celebrate the legacy of Star Trek every year. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. inspired Nichols to pursue her role on the show to inspire black people, other people of color, and other human beings to pursue their own aspirations in life. Modern-day shows like the Big Bang Theory, Sheldon, and shows from the Syfy Cable channel deal with science constantly. Black Panther has tons of science fiction themes including items that deal with promoting the majesty of Blackness in everyday life. 

Modern Engineering Feats

One of the most important, popular engineering feats have been the growth of advanced jet packs. By March 2017, Richard Browning founded the pioneering Aeronautical Innovation company called Gravity Industries. This company have promoted the right of human beings to experience flight with an advanced machine. The Gravity Jet Suit uses over 10000 bhp of Jet Engine power combined with natural human balance to have a thrilling experience. The Gravity team is based in the UK. It has delivered over 100 flights and speaking events across 30 countries. It has been to 5 TED talks too. Gravity Industries tested their Jet Suit many times from being in mountains and in other environments. We have Adam Savage building a suit looking like an Iron Man suit that flies too. There is the recent story of Chucky Wright using his paramotor flying device to fly 17,500 ft. above the Earth's surface which is incredible. The atmosphere is made up of different parts. The troposphere or the lowest layer of the atmosphere is about 6.2 miles or about 33,000 ft. Most clouds appear here, mainly because 99% of the water vapor in the atmosphere is found in the troposphere. Air pressure drops, and temperatures get colder, as you climb higher in the troposphere. Then, above that is the stratosphere being 31 miles above the ground. This is where the ozone layer is located. Ozone molecules in this layer absorb high-energy ultraviolet (UV) light from the Sun, converting the UV energy into heat. Unlike the troposphere, the stratosphere actually gets warmer the higher you go. 

That trend of rising temperatures with altitude means that air in the stratosphere lacks the turbulence and updrafts of the troposphere beneath. Commercial passenger jets fly in the lower stratosphere, partly because this less-turbulent layer provides a smoother ride. The jet stream flows near the border between the troposphere and the stratosphere. Above that is the mesophere. It is 53 miles above the planet. This is where meteors burn up at. Temperatures get colder the higher you go. It can be as cold as -130 degrees F. Air is too thin to breathe. The thermosphere is the layer of rare air. High-energy X-rays and UV radiation from the Sun are absorbed in the thermosphere, raising its temperature to hundreds or at times thousands of degrees. However, the air in this layer is so thin that it would feel freezing cold to us. It's similar to outerspace with satellites in this region. It can be 311 to 621 miles above the ground. The aurora or the Northern Lights and the Southern Lights are in this region. Temperature can be 932 degrees or higher. Above this level is the exosphere that goes into space. It is about 62,000 miles or higher above the surface of the Earth. The ionosphere is a series of regions in parts of the mesosphere and thermosphere where high-energy radiation from the Sun has knocked electrons loose from their parent atoms and molecules. The exosphere is where the Space Shuttle can be found. Beyond that, it is further space. 

Today, 3-D printing have been involved in creating homes for years. The technology continues to evolve. The question is how can the price of these homes can decrease. 3D Printing uses concrete and engineers use electricity and other components like lights, etc. in order to make the process exist in total fruition. 3D Concrete Printing Autonomous Robotic Construction System made by SQ4D, can be set up at a build site and can print a 1900 square foot home in under 48 hours. The printer lays concrete layer by layer, creating the foundation and the interior and exterior walls of the house. The 3D-printed house comes with three bedrooms, two full bathrooms, and an open floor plan, and because it is printed from concrete it’s strength and durability exceeds that of conventional wood-frame house constructions, while utilizing a more sustainable and cheaper building process. Plus the concrete that is used to print with, is 2-3x stronger than most brick and block homes, and the houses can be printed anywhere on any block of land, even with elevations. This technology is in its infancy (as you have to deal with electrical wiring, outer isolation, security, building regulation rules, and other issues), but it will certainly get better as time goes on in the 21st century. Sterling Backus created a Lamborghini using 3-D printing in Colorado. The car has been on display at the Denver Auto show in 2021. Backus has driven the car before. 

High speed trains systems have increased in their power in our modern-day world. The Superconducting Maglev (SCMAGLEV) is the latest advancement in the world of high-speed ground transportation. It's found in Japan. High speed rail has transformed rail. This train can travel almost 400 mph. On April 21, 2015,  a manned seven-car L0 Series SCMaglev train reached a speed of 603 km/h (375 mph), less than a week after the same train clocked 590 km/h (370 mph), breaking the previous land speed record for rail vehicles of 581 km/h (361 mph) set by a JR Central MLX01 maglev train in December 2003. This technology has been tested in Australia, America, and all over the world. In 2016, the Federal Railroad Administration awarded $27.8 million to the Maryland Department of Transportation to prepare preliminary engineering and NEPA analysis for an SCMaglev train between Baltimore, MD, and Washington, DC. In 2009, Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism decided that the SCMaglev system was ready for commercial operation. In 2011, the ministry gave JR Central permission to operate the SCMaglev system on their planned Chūō Shinkansen linking Tokyo and Nagoya by 2027, and to Osaka by 2037. Construction is currently underway. Many high-speed trains don't use convention steel wheels that increase friction and can limit speed. So, engineers started to develop magnetic systems that eliminate friction, have no wheels, and use magnetic force on a guide way. This technology was modernized during the 1960's. The Shanghai Maglev transportation system was very fast, and it changed everything in 2004. Maglev are heavily expensive, even today. So, we have high speed rail lines growing in the world. The Japanese want Maglev lines to travel from Tokyo to Osaka in just 67 minutes. Upgrades of technologies certainly are needed in a changing world. SC Maglev cools the magnets and uses superconductivity to increase magnetic force. That makes the Maglev travel more efficiently. 

Organizations that are Pro-STEM

There are tons of pro-STEM organizations that has helped the lives of girls, boys, men, and women to achieve their own goals. The National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering helps with sending college scholarships for minorities in the schools of engineering. They have explained their legitimate goal as promoting diversity in STEM involving especially engineering and computer science. The reason is that America is made up of diverse people. Americans are made up of the most diverse people in human history, and that is certainly a great blessing to witness indeed. The NSBE or the National Society of Black Engineers has existed for a very long time. Recently, President Biden wanted to appoint diverse leaders to the President's Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). In 2021, President Biden appointed Drs. Tony Allen and Glenda Glover to serve as Chair and Vice Chair of the President’s Board of Advisors on HBCUs, respectively. In February, he appointed Dr. Dietra Trent as executive director of the White House HBCU Initiative. The NSBE was created in 1975 to promote the aspirations of younger people to seek jobs in engineering and technology. It has helped tons of black people to pursue STEM careers for generations. Black engineers make up a large portion of our community involved in building homes, fixing plumbers, dealing with creating the new generation of cars, and handling environmental issues comprehensively. The NBSBE has trained many business leaders, helped to graduate thousands of engineers, helped K-12 students in STEM education, and worked nationally plus abroad. They are needed always in our society prodigiously. 

Girlstart was established with the goal of harnessing innovative, nationally-recognized informal STEM education programs to encourage girls to become more interested and engaged in STEM. The initiative offers 6 core STEM programs for kindergarten to grade 12 girls. Girls Who Code supports programs that equip girls with computing skills and inspire them to create technology that makes the world a better place. In 2017, employers received 500+ applications for opportunities posted on #HireMe, the organization’s job and internship board. The NGCP (or the National Girls Collaborative Project) works to bring together STEM organizations focused on helping girls pursue STEM careers. Its three central goals are to maximize access to shared resources, strengthen the capacity of existing projects, and leverage a network of STEM programs to “create the tipping point for gender equality in STEM.”

 

The Call for Economic Justice

I have always been progressive on economic issues throughout my life, even during the 1990's. Therefore, my core convictions are set in stone on economic views. The modern-day capitalist system takes its influence from Adam Smith and other pro-capitalistic scholars. His book of The Wealth of Nations that teaches in the myth that some "invisible hand" can govern the modern-day existence of economic forces. History and reality teach us that any economic system must have regulations and boundary lines. We know that the love of money is the root of all evil as mentioned by the Apostle Paul in the verse of 1 Timothy 6:9-10. Laissez faire theories have been refuted by the destruction of many lives by Reaganomics and supply side economics in general. When you get older, you see that the British East India Company back then and groups like the BIS promote laissez faire capitalism to divide humanity up, enrich the rich at the expense of the poor, and cause many economic injustices. Many people have so much lost faith in capitalism (which is a man-made economic system with imperfections), that they have gone into the totally restricted and atheistic Karl Marx (Marx was not only a religious bigot, but he was a racist too) form of Communism. There are alternatives. We can have universal health care, protections of civil liberties, endorsement of voting rights, and equality plus justice without the extremes of unrestricted Capitalism and Stalinist Communism. 

What brings economic prosperity deals with federal support for industries, a living wage, and having an economy that gives economic rights to workers (which causes the growth of unions, the increase of workplace protections, and the abolishment of discrimination). Regardless of the imperfections of the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence (regardless of its author who didn't believe in equality) is right to say that all of the human race is created in the image of God, equal under God with endowed unalienable rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. It is the responsibility of human beings to invent, to make the world better, and to use creativity in enriching society in general. We are dedicated to the General Welfare. That is why Article 1, Section 8 gives Congress the right to promote taxes, and provide for the general welfare of the United States of America. That is the government's job. The federal government has the moral right to provide for the general welfare of human beings. After WWII, many far right conservatives promote the lie that any attempt of the federal government to promote the general welfare of the people is equivalent to making to ruin society. Economic justice means to oppose imperialism too. 

Epilogue

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics have helped the lives of billions of human beings worldwide. As human beings, we have made monumental contributions. We are the only species on Earth that has created machines that traveled from the Earth to space including the Moon. We have also invented satellites and other machines that have traveled into distant planets. Likewise, we have a huge responsibility to make the world better too. Alan Emtage was a systems ambassador at McGill University. In 1989, he made Archie or the world's first Internet search engine. Archie, according to some, is the Great Great Grandfather of Google. Emtage worked on many search engines on the Internet. With the growth of climate change and other issues, there is no neutrality on these subjects. Either we are for environmental change or not. Either we are for racial justice or not. Either we are for justice for everyone or not. These words ring true from one icon of STEM:

"Science provides an understanding of a universal experience. Arts provide a universal understanding of a personal experience."

"Some people say they feel very small when they think about space. I felt more expansive, very connected to the universe."

"It's your place in the world; it's your life. Go on and do all you can with it, and make it the life you want to live."

-Mae Jemison

Therefore, STEM is part of the solution-making process in getting our houses in order. True STEM is never discriminatory. Regardless of someone's age, color, gender, or background, any human being has the right to study STEM without shame or fear. The greatness of STEM is that it utilizes geometry, trigonometry, algebra, biology, chemistry, and other fields in fun ways to allow people to discover the true mysteries of life. How blood flows in the human body, how DNA transmits information in the body, and how weather spreads globally via patterns all involve sufficient understanding of STEM. It is also right to give the youth inspiration to see that STEM is meant for them too. Decades from now, the world will change, but the same core principles of camaraderie, love, truth, and liberty will always remain. The truth is that STEM is not ageist either. In other words, folks of any age can learn STEM. So, STEM is certainly here to stay forevermore. 

By Timothy