Desma9 assignment8 Tiancheng Lin 704203383

In this week’s lecture, professor Gimzewski talked about the relationship between nanotechnology and art. Nanotechnology is a word fresh and unfamiliar with most people. However, 70% of things used and seen in our life used the nanotechnology including vehicles, food and computer science field.

Nanotechnology is a newly uprising field, which only have a history of maybe 50 to 60 years. Although it did not appear until 1960’s, the influence of its invention greatly changed the world of science especially in the field of physics and chemistry. The nanotechnology gives scientists a chance to change their perspective of the world into a new and more specific scale. Moreover, with its appearance, the field of quantum mechanics and material science grew rapidly, which attribute to the improvement of aerospace industry. In this case, the dream of human beings finally came true. (Traveling in space)

Not only did, scientists benefited from the invention of nanotechnology, but artist did as well. With nanotechnology, artists can have a different view of the world and gave their more inspiration to create wonderful works. To give an example, Mr. Orfescu, an artist, said that “nanotechnology is simply invitation to let color and shape-shifting run wild.”

In addition, I am interested in the field of Molecular gastronomy, food science that seeks to investigate, explain and make practical use of the physical and chemical transformations of ingredients that occur while cooking. This is a new food type which is not invented until 1988. Although I have not had a chance to try it, it looks nice in photography.

Resources

“What is Molecular Gastronomy?” Molecularrecipes.com. Web. Nov 24 2013 http://www.molecularrecipes.com/molecular-gastronomy/

“Gastronomie moléculaire – Concept” IdoDaVinci’s Blog. Oct 13 2013. Web. Nov 24 2013. http://idodavinci.com/gastronomie-moleculaire-concept/

Jingna Zhao “Turning to Nanotechnology for Pollution Control: Applications of Nanoparticles.” Dartmouth undergraduate journal of science. Feb 22 2009. Web. Nov 24 2013.  http://dujs.dartmouth.edu/winter-2009/turning-to-nanotechnology-for-pollution-control-applications-of-nanoparticles#.UpLYXpJ6bWw

BARNABY J. FEDER “The Art of Nanotech.” Bits. Jan 25 2008. Web. Nov 24 2013. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/25/the-art-of-nanotech/?_r=0

Gimzewski, Jim. Desma9 Lecture 8 “Nanotech and art.”

Tiancheng Lin Desma 9 Assignment 7

Neuroscience and art should definitely be related as all artists need creativity to finish their work and come up with beautiful ideas. Not like many other subjects, neuroscience is a newly developed field. It is not until 19^th century did people begin to be aware of the importance of the brain. Brain, an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals, actually controls all the behavior and thoughts of us. However, because of the limitation of technique and knowledge, we still know little about the brain.

For the study of neuroscience, the study of nerves is significant because they are basis of the brain and without them we can do nothing. In this week’s lecture, professor mentioned a newly technique called Brainbow, which separated nerves by different fluorescent proteins. The sketched picture looks so amazing that the research group win several scientific photography competitions.

Another part I am really interested in is that talks about LSD, a strong hallucinogen, which is discovered by Dr. Hoffman in 1938. I am from China, which is a country has strict laws for people who sell or produce drugs. Most of them were sentenced to death. In this case, it is quiet surprising for me that Leary from Harvard University encouraged his students to take the drugs. In my opinion, drug is something that really harms teenagers because they are in an age with strong curiosity. It is easy for them to be addicted to drug and will destroy their whole life.

Resources

Jeff Lichtman. “The Brain Unravelled an interdisciplinary exhibition where art, anthropology and neuroscience come together”. Fad. Aug 24 2009. Web. Nov 17 2013. http://www.fadwebsite.com/2009/08/24/the-brain-unravelled-an-interdisciplinary-exhibition-where-art-anthropology-and-neuroscience-come-together-private-view-7-september-2009-6-%E2%80%93-9pm/

Sheri L. Boyce “Nervous Systems”. Biology Reference. Web. Nov 17 2013 http://www.biologyreference.com/Mo-Nu/Nervous-Systems.html

“Drug Allergy: Overview, Definition, Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Therapy, Course And Prevention.” Health on care. Oct 24 2012. Web. Nov 17 2013. http://www.healthyoncare.com/drug-allergy-overview-definition-causes-symptoms-diagnosis-therapy-course-and-prevention/.html

Hailey Keller. “Brain Fitness: Train Now, Regret Never.” Web. Nov 17 2013. http://brain-games-puzzle-stores-review.toptenreviews.com/brain-fitness-train-now-regret-never.html

Vesna, Victoria. Lecture. Desma 9. Web. Nov 17. 2013.

Desma9 week 6 assignment

In this week's lecture, Professor talked about the relationship between biotech and art. Biotechnology is a newly developed area that may have a huge effect on the future of human beings because scientists believe that by some genetic processes we can cure some malignant diseases such as HIV or cancers. However, I do not think that life itself should be seen as a valid expressive medium because life is much valuable than a medium that medium can be reproduced but life cannot. In this case, I think there should definitely be more restriction for artists or scientists doing biotech experiments than those working in other fields.

To be more specific, we can first talk about the cloning, which is a hot topic in recent 20 years. Clone is a biotechnology that refers to processes used to create copies of DNA fragments, cells, or organisms. There is a famous movie call “The Island” released in 2005. In the movie, people in the future used cloning to reproduce themselves in order to increase their life. In my mind, this is a stupid and inhuman process because what or who we cloned is also a life and they should own the same right as us. For this ethnical reason, cloning with human cells is still prohibitive in the world and I think should last forever.

Moreover, we can talk about the transgenic technique. Because of the shortage of grain in the world, transgenic technique appeared as they are more productive and easy to survive. However, some people have claimed that these transgenic crops actually cause problems such as creating Superbugs and Superweeds, killing bees and butterflies and even contaminating regular crops by cross-pollination. Though, their effect on human body needs time to test, we should still be careful dealing with the transgenic crops.

In conclusion, transgenic technology may have its benefits but it has obvious disadvantages both ethnically and practically. In this case, we should still put limitation on those biotech processes until we can control them well.

Sources

S. GRANT. “10 Problems Genetically Modified Foods Are Already Causing.” Listverse. Jun 22, 2013. Web. Nov 10, 2013.

http://listverse.com/2013/06/22/10-problems-genetically-modified-foods-are-already-causing/

“What is gene”, B4FA.org. web. Photograph. Nov 10 2013 http://b4fa.org/biosciences-and-agriculture/introduction-genes-crops/what-is-a-gene/

“THE ISLAND: ½ STARS.” Richard Crouse. Web. Photograph. Nov 10 2013 http://www.richardcrouse.ca/the-island-%C2%BD-stars/

Paul Brown. “Attitudes to GM crops must change as the world warms.” Carbon strategy group. Jun 6 2013. Web. Nov 10 2013. http://www.carbonstrategygroup.com/carbon-market-news/attitudes-to-gm-crops-must-change-as-the-world-warms/

Vesna, Victoria. Lecture. DESMA9. Web. Nov 10. 2013

Desma9 Midterm assignment! Tiancheng Lin 704203383

Tiancheng_Lin_Desma9_Midterm