UCSDYPP

It's been over a year since we last posted on this website, but we are hoping to have a more blog-style set of monthly updates going with each successive YPP meeting. So here's what's been happening recently in the YPP 2012-2013 "learning year":

We started out fairly conservatively with our momentum and energy lab. We found that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction - sometimes leaving soda all over the place.

In November we had our first annual egg drop challenge student. Teams of students competed to see who could build the smallest, lightest, and most created way to protect an egg dropped off a building using limited supplies.

December was all about what makes the world go round. We examined how spinning objects want to keep spinning the same way they are currently spinning, and how that relates to everything from which star is the north star to how satellites are able to point in the right direction.

As you may have noticed, the YPP registration page is still under construction. This is because this website is maintained by a graduate student helping run the YPP program who, through a combination of lack of free time, laziness, and an incomplete knowledge of MySQL and PHP, has failed to bring up a new and improved registration and login page. He would like the registration to be secure and reflect some of the goals YPP has in keeping a database in the first place: to gather just enough information to determine who YPP is reaching out to, and then use that to extend YPP to other students who may otherwise not have the opportunity to participate. We thank you very much for bearing with us while he continues to attempt to get this database working flawlessly (something he should have done during the summer!) and present it to you without bugs. (It should be noted that this graduate student is talking in third person right now and maintain most aspects of the website as well)

But never fear! YPP's November meeting is here! This upcoming meeting will focus on learning about the important and fundamental concepts of linear momentum and energy conservation. We will be bashing things together and flying things off ramps- all in a controlled, and certainly calculated manner! The principles that define these concepts be very powerful tools that we will teach the students how to use. This is the same knowledge that any engineer or physicist uses to do everything from properly launching rockets into space to smashing together protons and anti-particle protons in particle accelerators at cosmic energies. By the way, we'll be launching a rocket of our own, though sadly it won't be going to space. See you there!

Get ready for the next school year of YPP! Our first meeting will be on Saturday, October 1. The topic will concern the basics of correct scientific measurement and will be spiced with discussions and examples that show the ubquity and power of π (that's 3.151492653...) in many physical measurements and situations. The meeting will start promptly at 10 AM. More information about the lab can be found under the Schedule/Labs section of the website. Directions and other information about October's program, as well as information for the rest of the year, can be found under the About section of the website. At this time you cannot yet register for the first meeting, as the registration page is still under construction. This should be corrected shortly and information will be posted on this front page when we have information to update you with!See you there!

As has been promised for over a year now, the YPP website has finally left the Geocities era and now looks more modern and appealing. As one would expect with such a big jump, there will likely be a few hiccups in the website as it gets started. As noted at the footer at the bottom of each page, please email us if you find anything odd or dysfunctional with the site. We appreciate any other input, such as suggestions for improvement, and would like to thank you ahead of time for bearing with us while we straighten out the site. Send away any bugs you find!