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A group of Hamilton summer science researchers are studying ice-like compounds known as methane clathrates, cage-like structures of water molecules that form around a guest molecule. As the quest for alternative energy sources continues, scientists and engineers are exploring new options, and methane clathrates are a distinct possibility.

The U.S. auto industry has caused some anxiety in these tumultuous economic times. The government takeover of General Motors in 2009 was a concrete indication of earlier warning signs of the industry’s problems; meanwhile Ford Motors has been able to avoid bankruptcy. Working under Henry Platt Bristol Professor of International Affairs Alan Cafruny and through a Levitt Center grant, Jeffrey Cardoni ’11 is investigating the business practices of Ford and GM that caused the two companies to succeed and fail respectively.

Working under Professor of Psychology Penny Yee, Clair Cassiello ’11, Lauren Liebman ’12 and Mary Meinke ’12 are designing a more reliable and accurate study to better assess the characteristics and behaviors associated with ADHD in adults.

In the DNA of every cell in your body, segments of DNA are constantly jumping and shifting locations. These jumping segments are called transposons and they usually contain the building blocks for genes, but do not provide your body with blueprints like regular genes. But in a group of microorganisms called ciliated protists, some types of transposons (called Telomere-Bearing Element, or TBE, transposons) do contain genes, and they are sometimes even expressed. Working under Assistant Professor of Biology Wei-Jen Chang, Joseph Lobel ’13 is spending his summer trying to detect and sequence these elusive, mobile genes.

Located less than an hour away from Hamilton’s campus, Green Lakes State Park can provide a relaxing day of sun and swimming for the casual tourist. But for many scientists who visit Green Lake, the trip is full of investigation and sampling; the lake is meromictic, meaning that the layers in the lake do not mix with one another.

In its third year, Cram & Scram has perfected the formula for reusing unwanted goods, and helping others in the process. Fifteen students from all class years worked many hours in the early days of summer break to collect more than 10,000 pounds of goods that have found new and happy homes, resulting in fewer deposits of these usable goods to a landfill. This year, Cram & Scram reduced landfill deposits by more than 40 percent—10 percent more than 2009.

Imagine looking through a series of portraits and being asked to observe the faces of each one. What if suddenly you saw your own face on the screen? How would you react? According to Sam Briggs ’12 and Beril Esen ’13, a lot of that reaction depends on how you feel about yourself.

In 1918, the global influenza pandemic struck millions of families, killing a jaw-dropping 3 percent of the world’s population at the time. Scientists since devised a treatment to stop the flu infection from spreading within the body. With the recent emergence of a particularly virulent strain of avian influenza, H5N1, and the rise of the highly transmissible but somewhat less virulent pandemic H1N1 “swine flu” in 2009, many fear a repeat of this serious and lethal world health crisis. The common drugs used for treatment of influenza are far from perfect, and they sometimes act in unexpected ways on the molecular level. Working with Assistant Professor of Chemistry Adam Van Wynsberghe, Erica Losito ’12 and Jeremy Adelman ’13 are taking a closer look at exactly what happens when the virus and the drug interact, in two different ways.

Standing in the dark lab, Sarah Fobes ’12 and Zane Glauber ’12 flip the switch to turn on their laser. In the blink of an eye, the tiny glass sample that they had labored over glows a radioactive green—with any luck, a brighter green than the last one they illuminated. Working with Professor of Physics Ann Silversmith, Fobes and Glauber are spending the summer experimenting with different aspects of glass formation to make it fluoresce (or glow) more brightly, with the indirect consequence of being able to make a better laser.

Facebook is one of the Internet’s most popular phenomena; the site already has more than 400 million active users, and an average of 374,000 new people join every day. But users may not realize that putting a lot of their personal information on Facebook could leave them open to identity theft and other security issues. Working under Associate Professor of Computer Science Mark Bailey, Spencer Gulbronson ’12 is creating exercises to inform college students about security threats that could put their most essential information at risk.