The Future of Science at Dartmouth and Around the World
As the Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Science celebrates its tenth year, scientists from all over the world continue to chip away at the unknown. Slowly but surely, we are learning more about the myriad components that comprise our universe, from the very small to the very large, and from the physical to the biological to the philosophical. Undoubtedly, we are the main beneficiaries of these achievements. A better understanding of our universe enables us to better appreciate our place in it. In addition, technological progress translates into improvements in the quality of ours lives, although it can sometimes be many years before the benefits of a scientific discovery are available to us.
Science is often unpredictable. Significant discoveries are made not only through diligent research, but also sometimes by accident. But, a brief look at some overall trends in research from recent years can give us an idea about the looming questions in each of the scientific disciplines. The following is a general exposition of the uncharted fronts that scientists are currently mapping out through research, both here at Dartmouth and around the world.
Chemistry
The field of chemistry contains a variety of disciplines, all of which study the various properties of matter. According to Dartmouth Professor David Glueck, the field as a whole has many goals to achieve and challenges to overcome in the near future, including “finding solutions to the energy crisis and global warming, better understanding the structures of biomolecules and their role in human disease, and creating advanced materials for new applications.” The Dartmouth Department of Chemistry conducts research aimed at addressing these three challenges.
To help reduce energy consumption, the Department develops better catalysts for chemical reactions, which results in more energy-efficient syntheses. Catalysts are used to speed up the rates of specific chemical reactions but are themselves not used up in the reactions. They are especially important to the chemical industry because even modest improvements in efficiency for large-scale operations have the potential to significantly reduce the amount of waste produced.
The Department also studies the structure and function of biologically important molecules and synthesizes new molecules for use in the pharmaceutical industry. Both of these research areas have implications for human health and medicine. Understanding the structure and function of specific biomolecules allows for the development of drugs to treat diseases in which those biomolecules are malfunctioning. Synthesizing new molecules can either lead directly to the development of new drugs for the treatment of a disease or introduce new synthetic methods for other researchers to build on.
Lastly, the Department focuses on creating advanced materials. In association with the Center for Nanomaterials Research, which is sponsored by the Thayer School of Engineering, the faculty conducts research on nanoparticles and advanced polymers. Nanotechnology research is a relatively new and rapidly expanding field, and advocates of nanotechnology anticipate that this research will have many applications in medicine, optics, and electronics. In contrast, polymer research is a more established field of study. Polymers are the basis for everything from plastic bags to styrofoam to Kevlar. Professor Barney Grubbs conducts research focusing on special types of polymers called block copolymers. Block copolymers are polymers in which two or more one-subunit polymers are linked together by covalent bonding. At Dartmouth, research into new, advanced materials with unique properties continues, with the vision that these materials will have important practical applications.
Physics and Astronomy
Physics is touted as the most fundamental of sciences, because its laws and theories form the physical basis for many other fields of study. The greatest scientists now face are in the fields of quantum computing, astronomy, and cosmology.
Spurred by the allure of machines with computational power far exceeding that of today’s computers, the field of quantum computing has been expanding at a frenetic pace since the late 1990s. Today, the most complex encryption technologies utilize quantum communication protocols. While normal computers use conventional bits to store information, quantum computers store information in quantum bits, or qubits, which are much more information-dense due to a phenomenon known as superposition. Consequently, quantum computers can perform calculations much faster than conventional computers. A Scientific American article from 1998 gives the example of factoring a number with 400 digits. This computation would take the fastest conventional supercomputers billions of years. In contrast, a quantum computer could solve such a problem in a year or less (1).
However, as Dartmouth Professor Lorenza Viola explains, there is still a long way to go: “[devising a working quantum computing machine] is incredibly more challenging due to difficulties of reaching fault-tolerant operations…the major issues are well-identified, and creative solutions continue to be proposed.”
Astronomy is the study of objects and phenomena that originate outside of planet Earth, most of which are in our galaxy, the Milky Way. Professor James LaBelle believes that astronomy is a “high profile area of future science in which Dartmouth will play a big role.” Faculty members at Dartmouth conduct research on numerous different topics, including modeling the structure and life of stars, and predicting the weather in outer space.
The field of cosmology examines the structure and composition of the universe at large. Professor Robert Caldwell, an expert in the field of cosmology, believes that “the number one question is why the expansion of the universe is accelerating.” Cosmologists believe that dark energy and dark matter may be contributing to this acceleration, but neither interacts with conventional matter. They hope new studies will shed light on dark energy and dark matter, allowing us to better understand exactly why universal expansion is accelerating. When the various theories of universal expansion are put to the test, scientists will also be able to better predict the ultimate fate of the universe.
Biology
The biological sciences focus on investigating all the aspects of life. Today, two major fronts of research are cell biology, and ecology and evolutionary biology. The Biology professors at Dartmouth foresee many breakthroughs in the near future.
Cell biology is the study of life at the molecular and cellular level. This field has seen some exciting developments in recent years, including the advent of genomic sequencing and increasing research on stem cells. Moreover, as Professor George Schaller explains, two major trends in the field are paving the way for future research: “[the ability to] visualize smaller and smaller particles within the cell, and [the ability to] track the dynamics of cellular processes in real time.”
Professor Roger Sloboda envisions that in the next ten years there will likely be several significant breakthroughs in cell biology that will have considerable impact. He believes that more light will be shed on the molecular basis of memory: not just how the brain as a whole stores and recalls memories, but also what the molecular medium for the storage of memory is. Sloboda also believes that gene targeting using designed viruses or other means will be able to treat or even cure diseases such as cystic fibrosis. He predicts that the first medical applications of stem cells will emerge and that people suffering from diseases such as Type I and Type II diabetes will be the first to benefit.
Ecology and evolutionary biology focus on how organisms, species, and populations interact with their environment. Most recently, proof of global warming has prompted further research into how species and populations are affected by climate change and how they adapt to these changes. Professor Mark McPeek believes that one result of climate change is that scientists will pay closer attention to ecology and evolution. In addition, climate change is providing scientists with valuable information on how species and populations adapt. McPeek also considers the ability to quickly sequence genomes an exciting development because it allows biologists to study natural selection at the genetic level and reconstruct the demographic and evolutionary histories of species.
Engineering
The field of engineering is concerned with applying scientific knowledge to create practical systems and machines. The benefits from advances in engineering can very rapidly become available to the public. The Thayer School of Engineering recently developed the Strategic Research Initiative to identify the major fronts of research in engineering today. According to Professor Brian Pogue, at the Initiative’s symposium the faculty identified three main areas of interest in field of engineering—medicine, energy, and complexity—and problems in these areas that the School of Engineering will concentrate on investigating in upcoming years.
In the field of medicine, engineers are working to increase the efficacy and dependability of machines and materials that help physicians diagnose and treat disease. Biomedical engineers are aiming to better understand why various medical devices fail so they can engineer better devices with lower failure rates. They are also focused on improving medical imaging devices and creating better biomaterials for a variety of applications. Moreover, the intersection of nanotechnology and medicine has the potential to become a flourishing field in the near future.
The second major field of research involves energy. With the global warming crisis looming, engineers around the world are looking for ways to increase the efficiency of the systems that we use to generate energy. By doing so, they hope to help society move towards more sustainable energy.
The third major front in engineering is a field known as complexity engineering. Some systems are difficult or impossible to characterize definitely because of the number of interacting yet individual components. For example, imagine two cars that are identical except for their engine systems. One is a hybrid-electric vehicle; the other uses a regular internal combustion engine. The car with the hybrid-electric engine has more components: batteries to power the electric motor, switches that decide whether the engine should use the batteries or gasoline, and energy-recovering brakes. All of these components work together to achieve a desired effect: better fuel economy. However, the increased complexity of the machine also makes it more difficult for engineers to predict where and how the system might fail. Engineering complexity attempts to model complex systems so engineers can better predict the behavior of these systems.
Philosophy
The field of philosophy is grounded on the principles of asking and attempting to answer a variety of questions using rational arguments and reason. Professor Walter Sinnott-Armstrong predicts that “the most exciting developments in philosophy, which are bound to progress in the next couple of years, are in naturalistic and experimental philosophy.”
Philosophers are now looking at natural and real experiments, including past studies in behavior and neuroscience. This radical new approach to philosophy brings quantitative evidence into a field that has long been based on qualitative rational arguments and has far-reaching implications for other areas of philosophy. A striking example of this is in a study which concerned the interpretation of Saul Kripke’s story of Gödel and Schmidt:
Suppose that Gödel was not in fact the author of [Gödel’s]
theorem. A man named ‘Schmidt’…actually did the work in
question. His friend Gödel somehow got hold of the
manuscript and it was thereafter attributed to Gödel. On the
view in question, when our ordinary man uses the name
‘Gödel’, he really means to refer to Schmidt, because Schmidt
is the unique person satisfying the description ‘the man who
discovered the incompleteness of arithmetic’ (2).
An opinion poll conducted in America and in Hong Kong showed that while people in America generally agreed that the statement was incorrect, the majority of people in Hong Kong agreed that the word ‘Gödel’ did refer to Schmidt. In this case, experimental philosophy suggests that people from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds do not necessarily share the same intuitions. Thus, experimental philosophy is bringing old philosophical questions back into the foreground, and it is also raising new questions. The Dartmouth philosophy department is widely recognized as one of the leaders of this movement, and more philosophers will likely use this approach in the next ten years.
Conclusion
Since 1998, there have been many new and exciting developments in the world of science, particularly here at Dartmouth. Moreover, new fields of study are emerging to answer today’s most prominent questions. Just as 1998 was not so long ago, 2018 is not as far off into the future as it might seem. By then, we might have some answers to the great questions of today. In addition, many new questions will be posed. But no matter what questions and answers arise over the next ten years, the DUJS will be there to illuminate them.
Acknowledgements
The main purpose of this article is to inform the readers of the research occurring in a variety of scientific fields today. I would like to thank the following individuals for helping me assemble this exposition of research: Professors David Glueck and Gordon Gribble of the chemistry department; Professors Robert Caldwell, James LaBelle, and Lorenza Viola of the physics and astronomy department; Professors George Schaller, Roger Sloboda, and Mark McPeek of the biological sciences department; Professor Brian Pogue of the Thayer School of Engineering; and professor Walter Sinnott-Armstrong of the philosophy department.
References
(1) N. Gershenfeld, I.L. Chuang, Quantum Computing With Molecules. Sci. American, June 1998. Available at http://www.media.mit.edu/physics/publications/papers/98.06.sciam/0698gershenfeld.html.
(2) J. Knobe. What Is Experimental Philosophy? The Philosophers’ Magazine, (in press). Available at http://www.unc.edu/~knobe/ExperimentalPhilosophy.pdf.