My First 24 Hour Hackathon!

International Space Station transit of the Moon taken by Quinn Groessl on January 31 2023.

The ISS orbits the Earth at a typical velocity of 28000 km/h (very fast) and at a typical altitude of 400 km. Gravitational forces keep the ISS in constant freefall, but with the forward velocity of the ISS, the overall distance to Earth and velocity stays pretty much the same.

These transits are pretty infrequent. The angle of the moon from the orbital plane can vary over time, and any small changes in the ISS orbit can have major effects on its path. In the sky, they are both fairly small objects, leading to smaller probabilities as well.

An important factor that allows these events to occur is that the ISS is traveling much faster relative to our perspective on Earth compared to the moon. The ISS orbits the Earth around 16 times a day, while the moon takes around a month (27.3 days).

You can see the video of it at this link. It's incredible how precise astronomers have to be with how short of a timespan there is to record this.

lazed tf out of sunday

Why I hate the pomodoro method.

You’ve probably seen someone suggest the Pomodoro method before— you do short sprints (typically 25 mins) followed up by a quick break (typically 5 mins).

I don’t like it, and I will never go back to using it. Don’t get me wrong, it can work really well! My sibling only gets anything done if they use this method, so there is something good about it. However, I’m going to talk about the downsides and what else to do instead of this method.

1. It focuses on time spent rather than results.

Many tasks are quite flexible in how long we take to complete them. Take walking home for example. When I am in a rush to school, it takes about 20 mins uphill, but my legs cramp really bad. When I’m just listening to my music and vibing, it takes about 30 mins downhill.

It's a similar idea for studying. Apply pressure on your learning and assignments, and they get completed faster. Too much pressure, you get exhausted or can’t think straight. (HINT: Procrastination). Too little pressure, and it takes forever to get anything done.

Different results require different amounts of time and pressure.

Trying to strive for a specific time frame undermines what your true goal is: to get some something done. The repetitive cycle assumes a “one size fits all” but that is rarely ever the case. Saying “I studied for two hours today” means nothing compared to “I wrote my essay, read a research paper, and annotated my notes from yesterday.”

2. It discourages focus and flow.

When I was trying out the method, I kept trying to find the ideal time for work and for breaks. The problem is it's never the same. Some days, you are more mentally exhausted and need longer and more breaks, otherwise you are just going to be miserable.

As it is, the five-minute break isn’t long enough to go on a short walk, take a dedicated snack, or fully disconnect. It’s a waste of time that taunts you with distractions that aren’t conducive to a good work environment.

The opposite is also true. Good days can be rare, so when you get into the zone, there’s no reason to come out of it for anything other than a natural transition. A ticking timer to your productivity doesn’t help, and breaking up that “flow state” isn’t maximizing your time or your efforts.

I also haven’t heard many people mention stamina. If you are in school and taking tests, you realize they are typically around the same length (90 - 120 mins where I am). The pomodoro method contradicts this. For a lot of people, focusing and doing your best on a test for such a long period of time can be difficult.

Oh, but that’s just life.

Maybe a part of it is, but you can take steps to improve your stamina during test taking. Spending upwards of two hours studying or taking practice tests, especially leading up to huge exams, can make the test fly by. Simulating test conditions is also a great way to study or increase pressure, which is what long term study periods achieve. Taking longer study periods also relates back to breaks. With the same amount of break time, you consolidate it into a greater block. You can grab a snack, watch an episode of your favorite show, take a walk outside, or do your hair. All fun stuff you can’t do with pomodoro.

3. It brings technology back into the equation.

If you’re using pomodoro method, most likely, its on your computer or your phone. Which means you have to have a device in reach and visible (for work on paper) or be constantly switching tabs (for work online).

Distractions are a huge part of this modern age, which means that you could inadvertently be teasing your mind with a computer game or social media or whatever you enjoy. Even if you don’t give in, you *are* losing focus.

Forget the clocks, forget the devices, forget the notifications. It’s so much easier to be productive if you have nothing else to do and no distractions to take you away from something that, at the heart of it, you enjoy. Because if you hate studying, why are you still reading this??????

This is really long so I’ll make another post about different study methods next week.

6/feb/2025, thursday

wasted most my time after school

subsequently had a lil mental breakdown & then pulled myself out of spiraling in a lowk mature way

washed my hair

prepared for psychology practical/viva

💤 3-4 hrs - maybe this is the reason my mental health has been a bit shit. looking forward to sleeping properly & FINISHING MY PORTIONS BEFOREHAND SO THAT I DON'T HAVE TO STAY UP LATE STRESSING

28/jan/2025, tuesday

tiring day as usual but i pushed through!!

woke up at 6 (maybe i should try not falling asleep for hours after skl if that results with me waking up early without any alarm despite going to bed past 1 a.m.)

light stretching + exercise

did ok on the eng group presentation in school today but at least it's done

searched for poetry contest

physics lab record

duolingo lesson

practiced playing keyboard

✦ 4. 5. 25 ✦📓✦ Sunday ✦ 28 days until exams

🗒 What I did today:

history summary (almost done)

physics study

art assignment idea sketch

emails...

I was like: Hm, I don't feel awake, I need something to give me energy and preferrably has a bitter taste to keep me going - fully forgetting that coffee exists. After an embarassing long time I remembered and made myself some.

Also I need to lock in more, like much much more; I tried to do math and immediately closed the paper because ain't no way I'm doing that - problem is: I literally have to TT. Ehhh I probably have to think this through again. A month left until my last high school written exams - let's hope I sort this out in time. Right now I'm still vibing somehow

♫₊˚.🎧 ▷▷ Beatiful Mind (Album) - Xdheroes [Headphones are not enough I need it in my veins]

i think i’m cooked for this midterm. and i haven’t even studied for hyperbolic paraboloids or hyperboloids or ... i don’t even remember their names

my test is in two days lol

NGC 1316 taken by Hubble Space Telescope on January 26 2021

NGC 1316 is an elliptical galaxy formed by the collisions of multiple galaxies near the constellation Forax in the southern hemisphere. What makes this galaxy unique is the dark lanes of dust visible around the galaxy. These are indicative that they galaxies NGC 1316 was formed by were spiral galaxies.

What helped scientists determine that this galaxy was created due to a "recent" collision where different types of images taken of NGC 1316. Hubble's images helped to reveal huge collisional shells and a small number of globular clusters. Collisional shells are formed from debris of the parent galaxy, which under the effects of gravity and tidal forces. These tails last for a long time, before eventually being reabsorbed into the progenitor (object of origin). Globular clusters are a group of stars bound by gravity.

These two events were indicative of a merger that occurred within the past couple billion years.

#3. Keeping momentum

You are tired. You are lazy. You can't do anything. Those are the voices I hear, and you might hear, after a long day at school. All I want to do is lay down on the couch and take a nap or get lost scrolling on my phone. But I know if I do, I'm going to spend the next two hours doing absolutely nothing.

Try not to stop doing stuff when you have a break. And I don't mean you should be constantly working. Make yourself a cup of tea. Journal. Call your friend. Something that keeps your momentum. It's harder to stop when you're stationary compared to when you're already moving.

sometimes i feel like school sucks everything out of me. i have all this motivation and excitement at the beginning of the week, but then school happens and i have all this useless homework. meanwhile there is stuff i actually want to do and am interested in... but i never have the chance to do them because i'm so tired and i still have homework to do. i feel like i'm sacrificing a bit too much of my self just to please my school and my teachers

on a brighter note, i think i discovered the identity of the unknown acid! i'm super nervous to go back to the lab now though and collaborate with my team. hopefully i'm right :)