Physics and Astronomy

Build a smartphone speckle imaging system to track finger perfusion changes and model how decorrelation links to capillary flow velocity.

Use NOAA and NASA flare archives to test waiting-time patterns, fit Hawkes models, and turn solar storm data into a real research project.

Use public survey data to measure transient rates, match hosts, and test how metallicity shapes fast blue optical transient analogs.

Build a tabletop wind tunnel, then use PIVlab and phone video to measure airflow around bio-inspired airfoils and analyze flow patterns.

Build a gamma spectrometer and measure real radioactive sources, then test how energy resolution changes with integration time and signal quality.

Test a low-cost radiative cooling paint analog and connect real temperature data to emissivity calculations using clean analysis and controls.

Track seed motion and test lift, drag, and rotation with CFD to build strong fluid dynamics skills and compare bioinspired airfoil ideas.

Measure breakdown strength in thin polymer films, fit Weibull statistics, and test how defects and thickness change failure behavior.

Map the Milky Way’s 21-cm hydrogen line with a low-cost radio setup, then fit rotation curves and estimate local dark matter.

Measure Young’s modulus in kombucha biofilms and compare growth conditions, strain data, and a fiber-network model for real physics insight.