By Sydney Severo
Staff Writer
For most students, science and english might seem like average high school requirements, but for Mira Costa senior Meera Nagpal they are her passion.
According to Nagpal, she has always had a love of science, and a passion for writing. This motivated her to create the Mira Costa Science Journal in the 9th grade. Although this journal only lasted 1 year, an assignment for Mr. Lewis’s AP Physics class at the end of her junior year re-sparked her imagination and prompted her to create a new magazine called The Cognitio.
“I absolutely love all things science, and I love to write, so I decided to combine my two passions to make a magazine,” Nagpal said. “I don’t like how local and school newspapers don’t discuss anything related to science, even though scientific discoveries form the foundation of societal progress. Students should be educated on what is going on in the science community.”
The Cognitio includes seven separate sections covering a wide range of topics discussed in the science world including Health, Mind and Brain, Environment, Society and Education, Physical and Technology, Space and Time, and Strange Science. Each section includes up-to-date articles covering controversies, inventions, and scientific findings regarding each topic.
“I think our work shows people that science can be really interesting and that it doesn’t have to be confined to the limits of the classroom,” Space and Time editor Cathy Miao said, “We report on current events as well as interesting pieces that most people probably wouldn’t be familiar with. I think one of The Cognitio‘s goals is to serve as inspiration for others to pursue an interest they might not even have known they had.”
Nagpal works with a team of student editors, managers and writers. She receives stories from her editors and writers weekly, and decides whether they should be published online or in the printed edition of the magazine. According to Nagpal, The Cognitio welcomes any writers or people interested in marketing or business in an effort to expand the magazine’s platform to include a wide variety of writers.
“Meera wanted to create the magazine to foster an interest in science on campus,” Meera Nagpal’s sister Pooja Nagpal said, “Often we are taught the basics of the subject but we do not get the real-life applications of calculus or chemistry to understand why they are important.”
In addition to starting two magazines, Nagpal spent the summer of 2014 at Dartmouth University, conducting research on the oxidation of various metals and learning how to use advanced laboratory equipment. This past summer, she worked with the neurology department of LA BioMed to conduct a research project regarding Alzheimer’s disease.
“Meera has always been a phenomenal writer and reader,” Pooja Nagpal said. “While everyone else was watching television or playing outside when they were younger, Meera would be reading thick books.”
The Cognitio can be found online at thecognitio.com. New articles will be published weekly on the online website. According to Meera Nagpal, although the website is currently under construction, it will be finished and ready for viewing within the next few weeks as well.
“It is very admirable that Meera started something from nothing in order to pursue what she loves,” executive Strange Science editor Jackson Kopitz said, “It is a great way to further pursue my personal interest in science.”
According to Meera Nagpal, the first printed edition of the magazine is in its final stages of editing. She uses a BookWright, a publishing software, to produce the The Cognitio in print form. The magazine will also be available in print for purchase on Amazon.com.
“What goes on in the scientific community is so important for the public to be aware of.” said Nagpal, “Science is the foundation of progress and should be valued as such. I think many students deem science as a boring field, so I hope to spark teenagers’ interest in the potential science holds.”
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