ESP Biography

Using dry ice, liquid nitrogen, silly putty and more, we will explore the nature of phase transformations of matter. If time, we'll also look at another type of matter transformation - chemical reactions - that might explosive, colorful, surprising, or all of the above!

Does acupuncture actually work? Can herbs cure illness? Chinese medicine developed over the last 2500 years has shown that, yes, acupuncture and herbal therapies work according to the principles of Chinese medicine. Still, there's a lot of skepticism about Chinese medicine, and doubts about its safety and scientific basis remain. In this class, we'll explore the basic ideas behind Chinese medicine, perform manipulations in the manner of traditional Chinese physicians, and make medicinal mixtures from natural herbs. Finally, we'll see how the future of medicine might depend on ideas from both Chinese and conventional medicine, and how acceptance of such unfamiliar and uncomfortable ideas can lead to a new age of progress in the treatment of disease.

School is so boring. Classes, grades, homework, tests, it’s all so useless, right? As true as it seems, it all has a purpose. In this class, you’ll talk to students from underrepresented backgrounds who made it to Stanford. These students thought the same things as you when they were in school and fought hard to get through it. They’ll tell their stories and provide their thoughts on the key elements to success as an student from an underserved or underrepresented area. The point - ANYBODY who works hard can make it to college (even Stanford!) and be successful.

What is matter? Using liquid nitrogen, Silly Putty and other weird substances, we'll try to answer this question that has intrigued people for thousands of years. Is it as simple as solids, liquids and gases? How can we transform between states of matter, or convert between different types of matter? To answer these last two questions, we'll see demos of phase transitions and chemical reactions.

School is so boring. Classes, grades, homework, tests, it's all so useless, right? As true as it seems, it all has a purpose. In this class, you'll talk to students from underrepresented backgrounds who made it to Stanford. These students thought the same things as you when they were in school and fought hard to get through it. They'll tell their stories and provide their thoughts on the key elements to success as an student from an underserved or underrepresented area. They will also discuss how to make the most out of an educational program such as Splash!

In this class we will explore some everyday (and not so everyday) examples of chemical reactions and transformations. We'll have some mind-blowing demos, as well as dry ice (cool) and liquid nitrogen (even cooler, literally) for your enjoyment. Through all of this, we'll look at just what happens during chemical reactions and phase changes and how we can harness chemistry to do things that we want. For this part, I'll ask you what you want to hear about: alternative energy, medicine, food, or materials (or something else you're interested in!)

Science seems pretty confusing and hard to understand. It seems like only "geeks" get science, and that most of it has no relevance to your life. Right? Guess again. Scientific innovation is the key to a better future for our country and the world. This class will look at just a few examples of just why this is, including medicine, materials, alternative energy, military technology, the food supply, and more. The focus will be on chemistry, the "central science" which branches into both biology and physics.