Welcome to Students Incorporated, a podcast exploring the topics of business, education,
technology and design.
I'm your host, Mr. Jason.
Join me weekly as my team and I produce content that's informative, positive, fun and uplifting.
Episodes include student conversations, interviews with thought leaders and inspirational stories
with an international flavor.
This podcast is created and produced with the help of students from the International
Community School of Bangkok.
Hello everyone and welcome back to the show.
I'm Mr. Jason and I'm joined by Yen Hao and our special guest for our first segment, Mr.
Darrow.
We are excited to ask Mr. Darrow some questions about space and the frontier beyond earth.
Then for segment two, we'll continue with part four of the secrets of El Dorado.
But before we take a trip into space with Mr. Darrow, let's hear our quote of the day
and get some headline news.
Our quote of the day comes from Kalpana Tshalo.
She said, When you look at the stars in the galaxy, you feel that you are not just from
any particular piece of land but from the solar system.
This quote suggests that gazing at the vastness of the stars and galaxy can evoke a sense
of interconnectedness to a larger universe beyond just our immediate surroundings.
It implies that our wonder and awe should extend beyond just our earth but to the heavens
as well.
By recognizing our place within the great big cosmos, we may feel a deeper connection
to our creator and all that he's made.
And that's our quote of the day.
Now onto some headline news.
Thank you Yen Hao.
Here's some headline space news from around the universe.
Our first news piece comes from Mars.
Unfortunately for enthusiasts of ancient Martian life, the amount of trapped water on Mars,
a crucial indicator of its ability to support life, has been suggested to be less than it
was originally supposed.
New research at Altrek University in the Netherlands has indicated that gullies on the Martian
surface may have been caused by rapidly exploding dry ice instead of being carved out by the
flow of water.
During the war, the large amounts of CO2 gas in Mars' atmosphere freezes and turns into
ice.
As temperatures increase again, they revert back to their gaseous state, and the transformation
is accompanied by large releases of energy in the form of an explosion.
This new theory will likely be met with a lot of scrutiny, but it's still in a long
list of other different theories.
Next let's see what's happening on the moon.
As historical allies, China and Russia have decided to further their partnership by planning
on building an automated nuclear reactor on the moon by 2035, which will provide power
for the proposed lunar base that both countries have also decided to partner on building.
Next what's going on with SpaceX?
An article from Space News on March 19th states that about SpaceX's recent third test launch
of its heaviest vehicle Starship.
The article states, SpaceX hopes to conduct the next launch of its Starship vehicle as
soon as early May, a schedule that depends on how quickly it can get amended launch license.
Speaking at the Satellite 2024 conference March 19th, Gwynne Shotwell, president and
chief operating officer of SpaceX, said the company was still reviewing the data from
the vehicle's third integrated launch March 14th, but expected to be ready to fly again
soon.
We're still going through the data from the flight, she said, when asked about the analysis
of data from the mission.
It was an incredibly successful flight, we hit exactly where we wanted to go.
In that launch, both the Super Heavy booster and the Starship upper stage performed as
expected on its ascent, placing the vehicle on its planned sub-orbital trajectory.
Starship's payload door was opened while in space, and a propellant transfer demonstration,
moving liquid oxygen between two tanks in the vehicle, was initiated.
However, a planned re-light of the Starship's Raptor engines while in space did not take
place, which the company blamed on a roll induced in the vehicle.
In re-entry, the vehicle broke apart at about 65 kilometers altitude.
The Super Heavy booster also exploded during the final stages of its descent to the Gulf
of Mexico during a planned landing burn.
And finally, if you happen to live in Mexico or the southern or eastern parts of the United
States, you're in for a treat on April 8th.
You'll get to witness a total solar eclipse, which will last over 4 minutes long.
The daytime darkness will affect 15 states within the United States, from Texas to Maine
and all the states in between.
And that ends our headline space news.
We are back for our first segment of this episode and we are joined by Mr. Darrell along
with co-host Yen How.
We are here to have a discussion about space, that stuff that's beyond Earth, what's out
there and how can we study it properly.
We are hoping Mr. Darrell can help us set the record straight.
Okay, Yen How, we'll start off with the first question.
Hi, and thank you for agreeing to be on the podcast.
Could you introduce yourself and give us a brief overview of what you do?
Certainly.
My name is Darrell Holst and I teach high school science at ICS Bangkok.
Among the subjects I teach is an astronomy course.
I grew up in a place that had quite dark night skies, unlike Bangkok, and enjoyed looking
up at the night sky.
In university, I had the opportunity to work as an astronomy lab assistant and became a
bit more familiar with observing the universe.
Alright, that sounds like you've always had an interest in looking up to the stars.
To begin, maybe we can go back in time a bit for some history about this subject.
How did ancient civilizations use astronomy and the study of the stars and planets in
their daily lives?
We have archaeological evidence that ancient civilizations kept track of the movements
of the sun, moon, and stars.
Think of Stonehenge or the Mayan pyramids which are precisely aligned to show the cycle
of the sun throughout the year.
These cycles could help those people to know when to hold a festival or when it would be
safe to set off on a sea voyage, when crops should be planted, or when eclipses might
occur.
It does not appear to be a coincidence that the heavens are useful in this way.
According to the very first chapter of the first book of the bible, God created the sun,
moon, and stars to serve as signs to mark sacred times and days and years.
Additionally, through observing the patterns in the heavens, these ancient peoples were
able to observe that many events in the natural world are predictable.
It's interesting how all these ancient civilizations can come up with this kind of technology to
track the time.
But fast forward to 2024, what ways does studying astronomy and the universe benefit modern
society and our understanding of the cosmos?
One thing it lets us know is the limits on our understanding.
When we read astronomy news, we see that there are huge discoveries happening regularly.
Sometimes we're tempted to think science has everything just about figured out, but
looking at the basic questions that we're still answering, we find we're nowhere near
having all the answers.
Second thing is the awe-inspiring grandeur of seeing stars that are so big and have so
much power that we cannot even wrap our minds around them.
Think about how hot the sun can feel on a sunny day here on Earth.
It's giving off an incredible amount of energy, and only the tiniest sliver is hitting the
earth.
If you want to understand the size of the sun, it would take 100 Earth-sized planets
side by sides to make a line across the middle of the sun.
If we compare the sun to the largest star that we've observed, it would take a line
of more than 1,700 suns set side by side to make a line across from one side to the other
of that star.
Now let's realize that the typical galaxy has 100 billion stars in it, that's billion
with a B, and there's evidence that there are 2 trillion galaxies in the universe.
Studying astronomy can lead us to an endless stream of saying, wow, over and over again.
Can you describe the process that an astronomer uses to observe and study the known universe?
What does that look like and how do they do it?
Sure, the nearest stars are so far away from us that humans haven't even gotten close
to traveling to them.
So if we think what's available for us to study from these stars, the answer to that
would be light.
Scientists have found that we can pass starlight through a prism and separate it out into a
rainbow of colors or a spectrum.
We call this study spectroscopy.
When scientists analyze one of these spectra, they find that most of the information they
would like to know about the star is encoded into that star's spectrum of light.
What elements the star is made of, how large it is, how much mass it has, how fast it's
moving toward us or away from us, how fast it's rotating.
This might make us ask, is it just a coincidence that the information we want to know is encoded
into the starlight in a way that we can observe and understand it?
I read a story of an astrophysicist who asked herself that question and decided, that just
seems unbelievable to me.
That led her to pursue and get to know the god that not only made the universe, but placed
the information where we could find it.
Okay, some of those studies sound like what we're doing in AP Physics 2 right now, which
is kind of interesting because that just shows how much these different fields can overlap
and contribute to the same thing.
I'm curious, have there been any recent discoveries that a common person would not know about?
Yeah, perhaps.
1916, Einstein predicted that there would be gravitational waves, waves of energy that
move through gravitational fields at the speed of light.
It took us over a hundred years, but scientists now have evidence that they have observed
these gravitational waves.
In preparation to answer these questions today, I reached out to an ICS alum from the class
of 2022 who's studying astronomy in Scotland.
He had mentioned that members of the university were involved in early research in gravitational
waves.
He mentioned that one type of these waves, the act of gravitational waves, can be formed
by black hole binaries where there's two black holes orbiting around each other.
These gravitational waves act as distance indicators and can allow us to measure the
Hubble constant.
Getting good results of this constant would allow us to determine the geometry of space-time
itself.
We've found different ways to measure the Hubble constant, but today different techniques
give us two different values for it.
As our technology has developed and our techniques have improved, scientists felt that our data
would start to match up more and more closely, but so far what we've found is that we're
not getting any closer at all to resolving this apparent conflict.
This would suggest that there's possibly something wrong with our best model of the universe.
That's super interesting, especially with the whole idea of Hubble constant.
I've never heard that before.
While we are on this subject of things like common people probably don't know or have
never thought about, here's my next question.
Can you explain the concepts of dark matter?
Is it a theory or is it actually true?
There's a range of views among scientists regarding dark matter.
Dark matter is a form of matter that does not appear to interact with other observable
matter.
It appears we can't measure it by saying placing it on a scale or we can't see it,
we can't feel it.
So we might ask, well, why would they suggest that it's there at all?
Without dark matter, it seems there's not enough mass in galaxies to keep them from
flying apart given the speed at which they're rotating.
Take a look at the Milky Way and it looks like it should be torn apart.
How much dark matter do we need to add to make the data fit?
According to many models, 85% of all matter in the universe has to be dark matter.
This isn't adding just a little bit of mass around the edges to top things up.
This is most of the mass of the universe.
Scientists who propose that there is no dark matter suggest maybe we have misunderstood
something about how gravity works and if we understood gravity better, there wouldn't
be a need for this mysterious dark matter.
If I could come back to your initial question for a moment, is it a theory or is it true?
In science, a theory has a special meaning.
A theory would be a well-established explanation of an aspect of the natural world supported
by evidence from many different areas of science that all point to the same explanation.
In scientific terms, a theory is quite reliable.
But dark matter isn't a theory in the scientific sense.
It's not that established.
Now for the other question, is it true?
It's a hard question for science to answer.
Science tells us very little about things that are absolutely true and can never change.
If we find new evidence that doesn't fit our current hypothesis or theories, we need
to be ready to throw out the old ideas and look toward a new model or idea that better
explains what we observe so that science might not be able to tell us if it's true.
So this topic sounds pretty controversial and also unusual.
Well I could think of a couple of examples here.
One is our sun.
Our sun is a bit unusual.
It's estimated that 85% of stars are binary stars.
That is, they have two stars rotating around each other.
But when we look at even these remaining stars, which are not binaries, we find another feature
that's exceptional about our sun.
A 2020 study found that our sun is much less active and is more consistent in its energy
output compared to other stars that are nearly identical to our sun.
So we might ask, why does that matter?
These features of the sun are necessary for life to be supported in our solar system.
If the sun had wild fluctuations in energy output like other stars, the earth would be
roasted for a time followed by a period where it freezes solid and life wouldn't be able
to survive.
One other surprising example comes from an image produced in 2022 that scientists understand
to show a very early time in the history of the universe.
It showed many large and well-developed galaxies in a place where they did not expect any galaxies
to form.
We're always finding things that we don't expect and this pushes us to learn more and
come up with new models to explain what we observe.
Our next question has to do with us and people in our tendency to leave our debris and trash
everywhere we go, including space.
With the increase of space debris orbiting earth, how does this problem affect current
and future space missions?
And we all know that Starlink is up there with many, many scores of satellites now giving
internet to different continents.
But this causes problems, right?
That's right.
Yeah.
That's a good question.
There are around 8,000 tons of space debris orbiting the earth right now.
We have evidence that there are 130 million pieces that are smaller than 1 centimeter
and maybe 34,000 pieces larger than 10 centimeters.
NASA is currently tracking 23,000 objects 24 hours a day to see where they're at.
What does it matter?
Well, a newly launched satellite could be taken out by a piece of space debris that's
in the wrong place at the wrong time.
That would be a huge loss.
Communication and GPS satellites could be lost and then those services could be disrupted.
But perhaps the most concerning is that missions involving human space travel could end in
tragedy.
So, yeah, I've got a follow-up question then.
It has to do with this debris and stuff that's floating around earth.
How do they clean that up?
Is there some kind of special program or technology or is there something that maybe you know
that they're working on?
So the first goal is to eliminate the production of new space debris from future missions.
In the past, the amount of junk that space missions left behind in orbit wasn't really
considered.
Now, nets and robots are being developed which could be launched into orbit and they could
target and capture the debris that's there and then send them on a path which could
allow them to burn up in the atmosphere.
Progress is being made in this area.
The European Space Agency has a plan involving removal via a robotic arm that they would
launch and that's scheduled for 2025.
So on the topic of new inventions such as that robot arm, basically, how have recent
technological advances changed the way astronauts observe and study the universe?
Like are there any new tools, technologies, or gadgets that are introduced or?
The James Webb's telescope is one amazing new tool.
Back in 1993, the Hubble Space Telescope began functioning properly and it gave us amazing
new views of the universe and allowed us to see things we had never seen before.
But technology has progressed so much since 1993 that finally in 2022, the James Webb
gave us new views of familiar objects in the universe as well as allowing us to see things
we had never seen before.
Earlier, I mentioned the image of galaxies where we did not expect them to be found.
That was the first image released to the public from the James Webb Telescope.
It uses infrared wavelengths of light that are especially good at seeing through clouds
of dust and so we've been able to see stars forming in a way that hasn't been possible
before.
Also, the resolution of this telescope is so good, we've been able to get a direct
image of an exoplanet.
That is a planet that's orbiting a star outside of our solar system.
And this is just the beginning.
Hopefully we'll be able to analyze data sending back to us for many years to come.
The James Webb Telescope, where is that located at?
In orbit around Earth.
In orbit?
Okay.
Alright, so we'd like to end our guest interview by asking them some advice.
So if you don't mind Mr. Darrell, we'd like to ask you some of your advice.
So our final question is, what advice would you give someone who is not necessarily an
astronomer but likes to look up at the night sky and ponder?
First I would encourage them to look up at the night sky wherever they are.
Bangkok is not an ideal place for seeing countless stars but there are still wonderful things
to see here.
Many times Mr. Chris or Mr. Jeremy or some other teacher will come up and excitedly ask
me, did you see Jupiter yesterday?
Or did you see Venus this morning?
Wonder can be found wherever you are.
Bangkok sky can be like a beginner's version of the night sky.
If you learn the stars and planets that you can see in Bangkok sky, they can serve as
markers for you to find your way around when you get to a place with nice dark skies.
I don't know if this is advice exactly but one thing that I note, when people look at
the vastness of space and ponder the universe, I see two common reactions.
Carl Sagan gives one possible reaction in a quote that he said,
We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost between two spiral
arms in the outskirts of a galaxy which is a member of a sparse cluster of galaxies tucked
away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than
people.
I can compare that to the reaction of King David talking to God when he writes in Psalm
8, When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which
you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that
you care for them?
This starts off sounding similar to Carl Sagan's quote a moment ago but King David goes on
to say, You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory
and honor.
You made them rulers over the works of your hands.
You put everything under their feet.
I would encourage anyone to likewise ponder the amazing universe we can observe and our
place in it.
Alright, thank you.
As we end this segment, we'd like for you to read our top 10 list titled, The Top 10
Facts About Space You Probably Don't Know.
Mr. Darrow, go ahead and start with number 10.
Number 10.
In space, no one can hear you scream.
Literally.
Sound waves need a medium to travel through and since space is a vacuum, it's the quietest
place you'll never hear.
Number 9.
Our Milky Way galaxy is spinning at about 225 kilometers per second.
So even if you're sitting still here on Earth, just know that you're hurtling through space
at breakneck speeds.
Next is number 8.
A day on Venus, the time it takes to complete one rotation, is longer than a year on Venus,
the time it takes to orbit the sun.
Try to wrap your mind around that.
Number 7 is, if you're worried about your weight, just move to Mars.
You'll weigh about 38% less there.
So if you weigh 170 pounds on Earth, you'll weigh 106 pounds on Mars.
Number 6.
In 2008, an astronaut lost a tool bag in space during a spacewalk.
So a bag full of space tools is now orbiting Earth.
Number 5.
It rains diamonds on two ice giants in our solar system, Neptune and Uranus.
Number 4.
Mercury, a planet about the size of Earth's moon, has the most extreme temperature fluctuations
in the solar system, ranging from blistering hot to freezing cold.
It's also the closest planet to the sun.
Next is number 3.
The Hercules-Corona-Borealis Great Wall is the largest structure in the universe, stretching
over 10 billion light years.
And number 2.
When a star dies, it can go out in a spectacular explosion known as a supernova, outshining
entire galaxies for a brief period.
And the number one fact about space you probably don't know.
Voyager 1, launched in 1977, is the most distant human-made object in space.
It's currently over 15 billion miles away from Earth and is still cruising through interstellar
space without any intention of returning home.
And that ends segment one of this episode.
Stick around as we continue with part four of our story.
We'll be right back after this short PSA.
Hey everyone, Mr. Jason here again.
Go check out the Students Incorporated website at StudentsIncorporated.com.
It's an easy domain name to remember.
In a previous career of mine, I worked as a website designer and developer and have
always been fascinated in this digital medium.
Also my marketing students are learning the importance of utilizing content you already
have to serve other purposes and to serve other mediums.
Over the course of almost two full seasons, we've produced a lot of valuable content,
which we can now start sharing on our website in the form of audio, video, and blog post.
Here's a few technical details about the website build for all you techies out there.
The yearly cost of having this website up and live is around 15 US dollars.
That's right, only 15 US dollars.
The website is hosted using Google Cloud Storage Services, which supports websites built with
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The website utilizes CloudFlare's free Universal SSL Certificate service to provide secure
and encrypted traffic flow to and from the website for our users.
And all audio and video files on the website use HTML's iframe element to pull that respected
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There are other fun details, but I don't want to bore you anymore.
Anyway, check out our website, read a few blog posts, and get caught up on any of our
released episodes.
Oh yeah, and if you are interested in sponsorship, you can find our forums online now as well.
Visit studentsincorporated.com.
Now back to the episode.
We are back for our second segment, where we continue with part four of our story, The
Secrets of El Dorado.
Part four is titled Histories and Legends.
If you missed parts one through three, make sure you get caught up before jumping in mid-story.
Episode 55 includes part one, The Disappearance.
Episode 56 includes part two, Uncovering Secrets.
And episode 57 includes part three, The Map.
Before we begin part four, Histories and Legends, Rebecca will give us a quick recap from our
last episode.
In part three of the story, we find Cira, Ava, and Lily back in the cafe.
Cira is working behind the counter when Ethan asks for his tracking device back, which looks
like a paperclip.
Meanwhile, Professor Hawthorne joins Ava and Lily at the counter in the cafe, accidentally
dropping an old manuscript and the note from Chen.
Ava helps pick up the papers and notices strange Chinese characters on them.
Professor Hawthorne introduces this mysterious note left by Chen.
Accompanied by an old manuscript, the note contains Chinese characters and a cryptic
formula, intriguing Lily and prompting Ava to seek help from her colleague.
Meanwhile, Professor Hawthorne discovers similar characters in the manuscript, sparking curiosity
among the group.
As they delve into decoding the characters, they uncover coordinates leading to two different
locations.
Ethan's research reveals the significance of these coordinates, suggesting a potential
secret message.
The team speculates on Chen's intentions and the connection between the note, manuscript,
and historical context.
Professor Hawthorne attempts to contact Chen, while Ava cautiously considers the potential
implications for her journalistic career.
Sierra ponders the use of coded messages, and conveying what seemed to be important
information.
The group's collaborative efforts set the stage for a deeper investigation into the
unfolding mystery.
Thank you, Rebecca, and without further ado, let's get back to our story where we join
Ava, Lily, Sierra, Ethan, and the Professor in Part 4, Histories and Legends.
It was late afternoon when the gang began making more progress on the situation.
Now they're armed with a historical manuscript, Chen's note, and two different coordinates
directing them to two different locations, kind of like a map.
Professor Hawthorne examines the coordinates on the manuscript again, N38-55-28 and W120-24-12.
He reads out loud, and that's Rob's Peak, a little bit north of the Union Valley Reservoir.
What about it, Professor Lily asks?
I know that area well.
I've been there several times on past projects.
It's a fascinating place, Professor Hawthorne recounts as he looks through the cafe windows.
You know what, he says, I'm gonna take the day off tomorrow and go there to see what's
up.
Ethan looks up from his laptop.
That sounds like fun, Professor.
Actually, now that I'm thinking, Rob's Peak is a decently high mountain, right?
I'm working on another small piece of tech.
It's sort of like a mini drone, and I've been wanting to test it at a higher altitude.
It looks like Rob's Peak would be a great place to try it out.
Okay, that sounds cool.
Why haven't we talked about this stuff before, Ethan?
I had no idea you were such a tech and gadget guy.
You should come with me then and I could use the company, Professor Hawthorne smiles.
I'll show you around the mountain.
Perfect, let's see, tomorrow.
Yep, I can take the day off as well.
You can work both the afternoon and evening shifts, right, Ciro?
You already are working a double shift today, though.
Ethan turns in Ciro's direction.
Are you up for that tomorrow?
You'll be doing me a big favor.
Ciro smiles a little.
Sure, Ethan, I got you.
Thank you, Ciro, Ethan says.
The cafe's in good hands.
Professor Hawthorne finishes the last bite of his sandwich before asking, Lily and Ava,
do you want to come with the guys tomorrow?
Hmm, hiking is not really my thing to do.
I do want to help out, though.
Let me think.
Oh, Lily exclaims.
Her brown eyes growing white.
We have chestnut, right?
And he has some of the symbols and formula written out.
I've got an idea.
I could spend some time in the college science lab tomorrow and see what I can find out about
the formula on that note.
She stabs a quick photo of the note with her phone.
That's perfect.
I bet we'll get to the bottom of all this soon, Ava smiles, though part of her wish
is it wouldn't end just yet.
After all, the bigger the story, the better her peace for the bee will be.
Ciro tilts her head before voicing aloud a thought that just crossed her mind.
Lily, you have access to the lab and all that, right?
I do, Lily trips.
I have my student ID.
This gives me access to the science labs we visited earlier.
Awesome.
Concrete evidence from research is always a plus.
Ava takes a quick look at her work calendar before replying to Professor Horlothorne's
question, saying, I don't think I'll be able to go either.
I do love the outdoors and especially the idea of an adventure.
But I really got to make some progress on the peace app to write for the bee.
Deadline's coming up soon, unfortunately.
Professor and Ethan, you two have fun.
All right, it's settled then, Professor Horlothorne says.
Ethan, you take all your tech equipment you want to test out and I'll take the manuscript,
the note and my notebook to see if there's something else I may have missed.
Ava frowns a little, glancing at the manuscript on the table before asking Professor Horlothorne.
You know the way there though, right Professor?
Yep, I'm going to take the manuscript with me just in case.
There may be other clues I'm missing now that it seems things are connected in some
way.
Plus, I'm finding I forget things easily these days, Professor Horlothorne chuckles
a little bit.
Meanwhile, Lily takes a quick glance at her watch, her heart beat racing as she says,
Oh no, I almost forgot, I have an interview for a summer internship.
It starts at 20 minutes.
I better go.
She looks around frantically for her backpack and sees it against the chair that Ethan is
sitting on.
What do you think, could you pass me my bag?
She asks, checking her watch a second time.
Sure, Ethan says.
As Ethan picks up the backpack and passes it to Lily, he drops in one of the small tracking
devices, the thing that looks like a paperclip, into one of the small side pockets of her
backpack.
He thinks to himself, I need to test these things some more since I'd like to get more
than a few hours of data plus I need to know how long the batteries last.
However, for some reason, he doesn't tell Lily.
He figures she'll just retrieve the device of time in the next few days when she comes
back to the cafe.
Thank you, keep me updated with what you find out, Lily says, her words carrying out the
door before the game gets to which she'll look on her interview and the research at
the college tomorrow.
Alright, Professor Hawthorne turns to the rest of the group.
I better get going as well, I've got some more work to finish at the college and my
wife and I have dinner plans with some old friends who are in town this week.
Ethan, I'll see you at 8 in the morning.
How about we meet here at the cafe?
Sounds good, Professor, Ethan replies.
Great, have a great evening and thanks for the sandwich again, Ethan.
Great as always.
Professor smiles as he gathers his briefcase, the manuscript, and the note before leaving
the cafe.
Eva also has plans to grab dinner with her grandmother, so she bids goodbye to Sierra
and Ethan before driving away from Ethan's cafe.
Punctual and on time the next morning, Ethan is standing outside the front of his already
busy cafe with a small backpack containing some tech gear, a bottle of water, and some
sunscreen.
He's dressed for a day in the hot sun as he waits for Professor Hawthorne to arrive.
As Prof Hawthorne pulls up to the cafe in his old Ford Bronco, he yells out the window,
Hey, Ethan, good morning and hop in.
Professor Hawthorne smiles as Ethan gets into the Bronco and gets situated in the front
passenger seat.
Are we ready to get rolling?
Professor Hawthorne says.
Sure am, let's go, Ethan says before a thought pops into his mind.
Hey Professor, you know a lot about the history here, right?
Are there any cool stories you could share along the way?
The Professor thought about plugging one of his books and almost said, yeah, I do know
a lot of history about that place.
You could too if you would have read one of my books, but he didn't say that.
He didn't want Ethan to think he was being sarcastic and he didn't want to sound like
a jerk.
So instead, Professor Hawthorne said, yes, there is a lot of history around that area
and the reservoir as well.
Professor Hawthorne continues as they travel out of town toward the mountains.
You see, Rob's Peak especially was the site of several popular mines back during the
gold rush days.
Legend has it that much of the gold that was found in the small streams and creeks around
Rob's Peak actually originated from the mountain.
There's evidence that suggests the gold, especially the small pieces and small flakes,
would get deposited in the small waterways during the spring snow melt from the mountain.
So many of the people who came here looking for gold only looked in the streams and creeks
around that area.
Very few prospectors went up on the mountain looking for gold, and fewer yet dug the small
mines that are still on the mountain to this day.
Most of the people back then wanted to get rich quick, plus they didn't have the right
tools, equipment, money, or the time to dig a proper mine into the mountain, except for
a couple families from Virginia who traveled all the way out here together in the spring
of 1849.
You see, this is why we called the people who came to this area during that year the
49ers.
They came by ship, on horseback, and by covered wagons from all over.
Gold prospectors came from North America, Latin America, Asia, Europe, and Australia.
It's estimated that this area saw an increase in population of more than 300,000 people
in just one year.
A year later in 1850, California entered the Union, joining the United States, establishing
itself with a state constitution and government.
I guess I should have been paying more attention in history class.
I don't remember learning any of this.
So what happened to the family from Virginia that you mentioned?
Well it's a miracle they made it.
I'm not sure how they did it since everything west of what we now call the Missouri River
was at that time unorganized and ungoverned territory.
It was literally the Wild West.
It was rugged and dangerous.
These families had to navigate their way around and through mountain ranges, through plateau
grasslands, make numerous river crossings, put up with unpredictable weather patterns,
all the while crossing through hostile and non-hostile Native American tribal lands.
And in the spring of 1849, they settled down at the base of Rob's Peak with the main goal
of digging several mining shafts into the mountain.
The other interesting fact I forgot to mention in the cafe was that many of the prospectors
were recent immigrants to the United States and that these immigrants were not treated
very well by the non-immigrant population and some of these immigrants were Chinese.
In fact, this manuscript I have documents some of the activities that went on in some
of the mining camps and settlements.
Since the information that was written in the manuscript could not be verified by anybody
else besides the author, it was deemed not credible and was never officially published.
Oh wow, I guess I should resell your history books.
So the mines that are on the mountains were dug by the families from Virginia?
Yes, Rob's Peak is named after one of the families, Charles Rob.
I can't find a lot of information about them, but I do know they were from Virginia.
There was a lot of happening in the southern states at that time in history and it wasn't
all good.
History was rampant and there was talk of some of the states breaking off from the Union.
Virginia eventually did in 1861.
It seceded from the United States and joined the Confederacy and Richmond became the capital
of the Confederacy.
This is the same year the Civil War broke out.
A very dark time in the history of the United States of America to say the least.
Wow, thanks for the history lesson, Professor.
I feel I have a better understanding about where we are going today and the history of
the place.
By this time, Professor Hawthorne and Ethan were almost 45 minutes into their one hour
drive from Coloma to Rob's Peak.
You see, there were two main routes to the top of Rob's Peak.
One went south and one went north.
The northern route was about 20 minutes faster, which the professor opted to take.
Ethan glanced at the GPS and noticed that they would be arriving at the destination
around 9.15am.
Meanwhile, moving away from the boys and their little adventure for a bit, Lydia arrives
at the college around 9 o'clock.
Her interview had gone well yesterday, but she was unsure if it was good enough to lend
her an internship.
I'll find out soon enough, she thought to herself.
After the college, she sees a few friends who stayed back for the summer to do more
independent research, so she waves hi to them.
Then she makes her way over to the science building, heads down in the basement labs,
and uses her ID to swipe in as she sets her backpack against the lab desk.
She's thinking about how she can test out Chen's formula.
She opens her phone to look at the formula and turns on some music and starts getting
to work.
Not until around noon before she takes a quick lunch break at one of the cafes on Compass.
Half-wishing Ethan's cafe was just a little bit closer.
The distance versus her hunger versus her motivation to face that hot sun, she thinks
shaking her head a little, maybe next time.
After a quick lunch at the campus cafe, she returns to the lab only to find Professor
Sharpton standing at the door.
She seems to be deep in thought.
Oh hey Professor Sharpton, Lily says, smiling at the professor.
The professor takes a step back, not having expected company.
Professor Sharpton returns her greetings as he smiles at Lily, curiously asking what she's
working on over the summer break.
Lily is delighted at Professor Sharpton's interest and she invites him inside to show
him what she's been working on.
Lily thinks to herself, maybe Professor Sharpton could help her out since the formula Chen
wrote on a note to Professor Harthorne calls for some element that the lab seems not to
have been invented.
Some substance or mineral Lily did not recognize.
Meanwhile Ava is working on her piece for the bee at her grandma's mother's house.
Getting a little frustrated because the words that naturally spilled from her fingers seem
to be stuck today.
Pursing her lips, she decides to take her laptop to Ethan's cafe to work instead.
It'll be nice to see Sierra again, and the change of scenery usually does the trick.
Sierra feels a smile grow on her face when she sees Ava walk into the doors of Ethan's
cafe.
She says a quick hello to her before taking another customer's order.
The cafe is busy as usual since it's only the third day of the town's annual Gold Rush
Festival.
However, the lunch rush hour was ending and most of the customers were getting done and
leaving.
Ava is at her usual table by the front window, setting up her laptop as she waits for Sierra
or another server to take her order.
Being in the cafe again makes her think back to yesterday's events.
It was a pretty exciting afternoon.
Then she wonders about what Ethan and Professor Harthorne are up to.
By this time the Professor and Ethan had been at Rob's Peak for almost three hours now.
Rob's Peak isn't like it used to be back in the old days, rugged, remote, and dangerous.
It's now quite developed with roads leading directly up to the peak of the mountain, one
from the south and one from the north.
At the top of the mountain there's a small gravel parking lot flanked by a wooded picnic
area and a small canteen.
The canteen is more like a small general store with snack type foods and drinks.
And when the kitchen's open they make a mean grilled hamburger with a side of potato wedges.
The canteen offers hikers, campers, backpackers, and day trippers a nice place to rest and
grab some food.
For about the first hour when they arrived the Professor studied the manuscript and some
old typographical maps while talking with the owners of the canteen.
Ethan stayed outside in the parking area where he assembled and practiced flying the mini
drone he had built and brought along.
He was also excited to discover that the drone worked just fine in the higher altitude.
They spent the second hour hiking down to the first gold mine site on the north side
of the mountain.
This mine site was the most popular with the tourists as it was easily accessible and the
entrance of the mine was not sealed shut.
This meant that if you were brave enough you could walk about 100 or so yards into the
mine before being met by a vertical shaft that went straight down into what looked like
a black hole into the mountain.
The vertical shaft was closed though with bars and padlocks.
This part of the mine had been closed to the public for years since it was a hazard to
curious tourists and novice explorers.
The Professor turned on his flashlight and walked into the mine all the way to where
the shaft was located.
Meanwhile Ethan stayed outside the entrance and flew his drone around the area taking
aerial video and photos of the surrounding.
Ethan was thrilled that his new device was working like a charm.
He wanted to give it one more test before bringing it back down and turning it off.
He decided to test his flying skills by maneuvering the drone via his phone into the mine and
all the way back to the area that the Professor had walked to.
He also wanted to test the night vision mobility of the camera that he had installed.
The drone hummed down the narrow, horizontal mine shaft towards the Professor.
Sure enough, Ethan could see the Professor standing by the locked up vertical shaft gate
in camera view.
Ethan watched on his phone in camera view as the Professor turned around and waved at
the drone and guessed that he was going to be walking back out.
Ethan then maneuvered the drone to turn 180 degrees and fly back out of the mine shaft
while the Professor followed.
As Professor Hawthorne exited the mine, Ethan said,
Ah, hey Professor, you're going to want to see this.
As he pointed to his tablet which had the footage his drone had captured while inside
the mine shaft.
Meanwhile and back in Coloma at Ethan's Cafe, Sierra notices Ava has come back to the Cafe
for a light lunch.
Hey Ava, didn't know you were coming in today.
Sierra stops by Ava's table.
Happy to see you though.
You want your usual?
Yup, thank you girly.
Ava smiles.
Of course, of course.
Alright.
Sierra remembers.
And how's that piece for the beat going?
Ugh, Ava says it's not where I want it to be.
I'm having writer's block today.
It's really frustrating.
Oh, I'm sorry to hear.
Hope that goes away soon.
Maybe the sandwich might help.
Sierra looks at Ava.
I hope so too.
Ava tells Sierra before she goes to put in Ava's order.
After Sierra leaves, Ava thinks about the reason she hasn't been working as much this
morning.
She stumbles upon a thought and suddenly she knows why.
She's got a theory, to say the least, and she waits eagerly for Sierra's shift to end.
She tells Sierra this, as Sierra brings Ava her sandwich.
Alright girl, Sierra says, I'm done with my shift.
Spill, what's up?
Okay, Ava says, putting her journalism hat on.
I think the professor is sketchy.
Sierra's eyes widen.
You mean Professor Hawthorne?
Yeah, Ava says.
Wait, why though?
He's helping us out.
I know, but think about it.
Yesterday, when I asked him about needing the map, he was almost defensive about it,
but why would he need the manuscript with him?
Wouldn't that get all dirtied on the hike?
He could have just taken a photo.
Ava looks at Sierra, eyebrows raised.
Hmm, maybe you have a point, Sierra reflects.
Right, Ava nods, and also, if he had not his briefcase yesterday, would he even be showing
us the manuscript that matched Chen's note?
Why was he even carrying Chen's note?
Why did he even have the manuscript in the first place?
Why were they in his briefcase, and what was he going to do with them?
And think about it, he's also pretty close to Chen, right?
So what if-
What if he has something to do with Chen's disappearance?
No way, Sierra explains upon realization.
Yeah, no way, Ava echoes.
What are we going to do?
Who are we going to tell?
No, no, no, Ava rushes.
Girl, we can't tell anyone.
If we tell anyone, that could tip off Professor Hawthorne, and we'll lose the manuscript.
Besides, it's just a theory.
Oh no, you're right, Sierra looks at Ava.
What do we do then?
Ava thinks for a bit, lips pursed, before she shakes Sierra's hand.
Oh, I know, she says, are you free tonight?
Yeah, I think so, why?
Sierra asks.
Remember how there were two coordinates that go to two locations?
I say we go explore the other location tonight and see what we find out.
Luckily, I took a photo of Chen's note the other day, I knew it would come in handy.
Sierra thinks about it for a bit and agrees, and not telling anyone right, she double checks.
You got it, not a soul.
Ava says, tracing two fingers from one corner of her mouth to the other, zipping her lips,
making a motion and throwing the key away.
Sierra's eyes immediately brightened.
This was their secret code back in high school.
She laughs a little before following suit.
All right, I'll see you then, Ava says.
7 p.m., your place?
Sierra nods, I'll see you then.
Ava smiles, I threw shooting down her spine.
Teachers always love mysteries and adventures, especially nighttime adventures.
One way or another, she's going to get to the bottom of this.
Meanwhile, back in the lab at the college, Lidi spent working on trying to figure out
the formula that Chen had written down on the note he had given to Professor Hawthorne
the week before.
Professor Sharpton was in the lab, along with several other students working on their own
projects.
Lidi was waiting for Professor Sharpton to be free as she really needed some help, with
one part of the formula she didn't understand.
However, Professor Sharpton had been in the back office talking on the phone for over
twenty minutes.
Professor Sharpton walks out of the back office and straight over to Lidi and asks,
Okay, Lili, let me see what you're working on.
Maybe I can help.
After Professor Sharpton says this, he looks up at the door to the lab and nods his head
toward the person standing outside the lab.
And that ends part four, histories and legends.
Thank you for listening.
Tune in next episode as we continue with part five titled, The Secret Society.
As we end this episode, we want to give a big thanks to our resident astronomer here
at ICS.
Thanks again, Mr. Darrell, for helping us see and have a better understanding about
the universe and space and where we fit in the cosmos.
And as always, this podcast would not be possible without the hard work and support of our International
Student Production Team.
All music and sound effects are courtesy of Pixabay.com, a vibrant community of creatives
sharing copyright free images, videos, and music.
And we are signing off until next time.
Be your student and incorporate it because your voice matters.