Each month I discuss 3 life things I learned (with a good quote) recapping the past month, what I’m working on now, and at the end I leave you with a question to think about.
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Rapid testing your H2O
Hey! I’m Julia, a 17-year old learning about the world. And right now I’m obsessed with long-term carbon-free energy & fuel solutions and about nanomedicine for drug delivery with magnetic & lipid NPs to combat brain and liver cancers!
Hello!
May has marked the wrapping up of so many fun, hard, life-changing things, and below are just a few of them…
Quote for June 📖
“If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.”
- George Harrision (Any Road)
All the best advice comes from old songs (yes it’s old, I wasn’t even born yet!).
But, if you don’t know where, or have no intention for any action you do, you’ll end up following any path hoping something will give you the perfect answer.
That’s what I did this past school year, I knew I liked science and building things and that was about it. I had no idea what I wanted to build, where to go, or anything else about myself.
Here’s what I learned from my chaotic goose chase of a grade 12 year:
Know what you want so you don’t end up doing what you think you want based on everyone else’s goals
I learned it’s okay not to know everything you want to do, life’s supposed to be chaotic. But you can’t just sit around expecting a new-found passion to come along. You need to go out and search for things too. See what you find fascinating, the people you find annoying, or the topics you hate with a passion (for me that’s Microeconomics)Want it bad enough
Also learned that you can’t just want something, you need to want it enough to invest time into it. And if you’re not even willing to sacrifice some of your ME TIME, then this new-found passion is probably just not that important and a waste of time.
Your goals, values, and mindsets are what you want them to be.
Greenest toothbrush there ever was 🌱
I charged my toothbrush with random plants I found at Walmart!
I got some plants from Walmart, put them in some plastic cups I spent a few days hunting for, and filled them with mud (rich in bacteria), toonies & dimes (for electrodes), lots of wires, and the plants. Then I hooked them all up to my toothbrush & waited 3 days to see that little green light (meanings my toothbrush charging) for less than 10 seconds! —little, I know but it still felt awesome.
Rapid testing your H2O
I finished from buildspace this past month too! With Elena Mishina, we prototyped a water rapid test. Where you can test a tiny bit of your drinking water, and even yourself with your stool samples! Then the test will tell you if the water or you have contaminates like bacteria or for people an infection and which types. We’re still working on the design for quick testing while camping, or in rural communities. So, more to come in August!
I’m coming back UW!
I’ve officially accepted my dream school offer for Nanotechnology Engineering at the University of Waterloo.
I did a co-op semester at the QNC University of Waterloo for the first 5 months of high school and learned so many important life, academia, and lab research lessons. I even got a taste of university life by learning on campus with Intro to Microeconomics (never again I hope). So, I’ll be back again in the Fall studying more nano this time!
Cool Things I Found 😎
Accidental anti-addiction drug
Ozepmic brand (semaglutide) has made people quit their bad habits and addictions such as alcohol, shopping, nail-biting, smoking, etc.
Semaglutide has been used for decades to control Type 2 Diabetes. And helps people since it mimics the GLP-1 hormone which slows stomach emptying, and regulates blood sugar by reducing appetite + boosting insulin.
Ozempic isn't just for weight loss and diabetes: 6-minute article for applications with cancer to Alzheimer's.
Ozempic: How the Diabetes Drug Works and Why It’s Such a Big Deal for Weight Loss: 4-minute video about how the drug works.
Metformin, the big new "anti-aging" drug, explained: 8-minute video about an old drug that now to makes you live longer.
You’re from many diverse African populations, not 1 ancestral line
Homo sapiens evolved from LOTS of closely related populations all across Africa, NOT a single ancestral line like we all thought.
Scientists analyzed spit from 4 African populations today, & some Eurasian. They found that after 2+ not-so-diverse populations mixed for thousands of years, there was the earliest noticeable population split of early humans (120,000-135,000 years ago). BUT, people in these split populations still migrated between each other.
A weakly structured stem for human origins in Africa: The study, if you’re interested.
Are Humans Still Evolving?: 11-minute video on our incredible progression as a species & through tech.
EVOLUTION with Dr. John McCormack: 22-minute podcast episode is an intro to evolution and how mutations can be some of our greatest strengths.
Something to Think About 🧠
What if nothing in life really matters? How would you act?
That presentation you bombed or got exploding applause for. Or your shoe that just broke, and now you have to walk with what’s left of it in the pouring rain.
But zooming out there’s still a whole world of good, bad, exciting, and annoying things going on all the time, and compared to it all you and your broken shoe are just a tiny speck standing on the Earth. Zooming out more, on the scale (size & time) of the universe the Earth is so small it isn’t even a speck, it’s barely anything at all. So you and your broken shoe are so incredibly insignificant to the massive cosmic events going on all the time that are creating and destroying things constantly.
So you and your broken shoe are barely even a blip in the universe’s potential, but you can still make the most of your insignificant blip.
For me, I found that for now, it’s going to be doing and trying anything that I find myself at, and keep writing these questions to you because I think they’re fun.
What will/are you doing? See you next month 👋
Into June🔮
More plant power 🌱
In June, I’m building 10 BPVs. With the goal of achieving 1 full volt (no more millivolts) of power, and then onto 20 volts, maybe even 100!
I’m starting a podcast! (for real this time)
(Lucky you, you’re the first to know!)
With Shaurya Pratap Singh, we are launching Sustain it: Anything is greenable.
A sustainable tech podcast highlighting incredible eco work being done around the world and learning from top people in their industries for business, science, tech, and all things green energy, transportation, and infrastructure. Trailer comes out in July!
Awesome newsletter Julia! Congrats on Waterloo, you'll do great! 🥳
Great articles Julia!