This lecture was based on co-evolution and homeostasis. If you change one piece of an equilibrium situation, then you change the evolutionary balance. This reminded me of an episode of The Simpsons when Homer was traveling in time and everytime he stepped on a bug or squashed a plant, he would return to present time to some form of defect. After awhile of fouling up situations in order to correct what he did, Homer finally snapped. Instead of not touching anything in the past, he destroyed EVERYTHING. That eventually ended in things being normal minus the fact that his family ate with their tongues like frogs catching flying insects.
There was also a mention of how Richard Feyman worked to shrink a whole series of Encyclopedia Brittanica as well as Robert Drexler building robots to build smaller robots.
We are witnessing the miniaturization by the way cell phones get smaller and smaller. As well as the new Netbook computers. There are actually computer technicians who make circuit boards and embed their own graphic images and words within the micro-circuitry of the hardware.
We take for granted of just what technology is and what it contributes to society.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Biotechnology 10/15-22
The lecture on October 22nd touched on the issues of biotechnology which is technology applied to living things. We spoke on the breakdown of Genome meaning the beginning of law.
Biotech could expand your ability to know and understand how the body itself, all animals (which include humans), is put together. We discussed the ability to perform transgenic operation because of no matter how different a species is on the outside, it is made up of the same things on the inside. That substance is the chemical known as Deoxyribonucleic Acid, better known as DNA. This chemical substance has been broken down during a mass project so that the scientists will know of every single strand and of which does what in regards to the human body. We are now able to grow body parts and remove medical flaws before they have a chance to become prevalent.
Do to the many studies of DNA, we were able to produce recombint genes which gave rise to "Super Corn". These super corn is resistant to insecticide and harsh conditions. The class watched a video of how some Mexican countries banned American corn due to its invasion of the native land and killing of the native mais (Spainish corn). What was truly shocking is how the new seeds that are produced by these new genes made by the agriculture and pesticide industry are actually owned by the company. Such companies like Montsanto Corp (Round-up herbicide) owns the patents of the seeds that they produce, but only because they are headquartered in Canada. The United States prohibit the patent of ANY living thing, to include plants. But because gene transfers occur naturally in plants, the independent farmer is at the mercy of these big companies whenever a "mutated plant" grows on their land.
The Agricultural Revolution meets the Industrial Revolution. The outcome is not a pretty one. We humans are highly capitalistic and it will cause our downfall.
Biotech could expand your ability to know and understand how the body itself, all animals (which include humans), is put together. We discussed the ability to perform transgenic operation because of no matter how different a species is on the outside, it is made up of the same things on the inside. That substance is the chemical known as Deoxyribonucleic Acid, better known as DNA. This chemical substance has been broken down during a mass project so that the scientists will know of every single strand and of which does what in regards to the human body. We are now able to grow body parts and remove medical flaws before they have a chance to become prevalent.
Do to the many studies of DNA, we were able to produce recombint genes which gave rise to "Super Corn". These super corn is resistant to insecticide and harsh conditions. The class watched a video of how some Mexican countries banned American corn due to its invasion of the native land and killing of the native mais (Spainish corn). What was truly shocking is how the new seeds that are produced by these new genes made by the agriculture and pesticide industry are actually owned by the company. Such companies like Montsanto Corp (Round-up herbicide) owns the patents of the seeds that they produce, but only because they are headquartered in Canada. The United States prohibit the patent of ANY living thing, to include plants. But because gene transfers occur naturally in plants, the independent farmer is at the mercy of these big companies whenever a "mutated plant" grows on their land.
The Agricultural Revolution meets the Industrial Revolution. The outcome is not a pretty one. We humans are highly capitalistic and it will cause our downfall.
Environment
The birth of agriculture occurred about 10,000 years ago and involved the domestication of plants and animals. This is the period when humans were able to move from being hunters and gatherers to building permanent homes and growing (and raising) their own food. Everything was all and good, up until the period from 1830-1840 when the Industrial Revolution would come around. This era mechanized everything.
The invention of the tractor and steam engines made farming a quick and easy task. This also caused the explosion of wealth in some areas. As the need to produce quicker came about, we as humans decided that the earth contained precious treasures that we can use to run the various plants and factories that were popping up. The fossil fuels, coal and oil, greatly made humans highly dependent on dead vegetation and marine organisms of long ago.
The great use of fossil fuels paved the way for urbanization. As more people made money and more people were separated into social classes, cities became zones of clusters of people. One could look at a map, either on paper or in the sky, and be able to pinpoint where the high class, middle class, and low class people resided.
As we continue to use fossil fuels which are damaging to the environment; we began to realize the high threat that the Earth was being put into. We started paying more attention to the emission of greenhouse gases and the effects of it. That is when we stopped thinking from cradle to grave and begin to think and plan cradle to cradle. Moreso because the things that we do now has great consequences of what our children's children will be living in.
The invention of the tractor and steam engines made farming a quick and easy task. This also caused the explosion of wealth in some areas. As the need to produce quicker came about, we as humans decided that the earth contained precious treasures that we can use to run the various plants and factories that were popping up. The fossil fuels, coal and oil, greatly made humans highly dependent on dead vegetation and marine organisms of long ago.
The great use of fossil fuels paved the way for urbanization. As more people made money and more people were separated into social classes, cities became zones of clusters of people. One could look at a map, either on paper or in the sky, and be able to pinpoint where the high class, middle class, and low class people resided.
As we continue to use fossil fuels which are damaging to the environment; we began to realize the high threat that the Earth was being put into. We started paying more attention to the emission of greenhouse gases and the effects of it. That is when we stopped thinking from cradle to grave and begin to think and plan cradle to cradle. Moreso because the things that we do now has great consequences of what our children's children will be living in.
Education 10/8
The class spoke some on education. But there was an opening of how humans are omnivorous ad can survive on anything. This would not just include us eating everything that we have laid out in front of us. We are about the only creature on this planet that will consume at a vast pace that our own ecosystem is put into danger.
The segment on education mention how formal education has evolved from a guild of professionals. We realize how strong of an education that we must have in order to survive in this world. Charles Darwin mentioned "the survival of the fittest". The stronger, fastest, and smartest animal will always endure the long run. Being the smartest was added because learning is the process of passing on needed info. Such needed info as hunting, gathering, protecting, and knowing who is an enemy and who is an ally. We as humans learn by playing which enhances are eye/hand coordination. We learn by thinking because if we do not do the task we forget all about it and learn nothing. Then we will associate various tools for learning that stimulates our mind while at the same time making simple tasks more simple.
We humans are very inventive when it comes to simplifying life. That is why the public school system and the parochial school system was the basis of what it is today. We value the importance of learning and we will be quick to shun those who do not take the initiative to learn and to keep learning.
You are a student all you life because the more you learn the more connections and neurons that is being created within your brain.
The segment on education mention how formal education has evolved from a guild of professionals. We realize how strong of an education that we must have in order to survive in this world. Charles Darwin mentioned "the survival of the fittest". The stronger, fastest, and smartest animal will always endure the long run. Being the smartest was added because learning is the process of passing on needed info. Such needed info as hunting, gathering, protecting, and knowing who is an enemy and who is an ally. We as humans learn by playing which enhances are eye/hand coordination. We learn by thinking because if we do not do the task we forget all about it and learn nothing. Then we will associate various tools for learning that stimulates our mind while at the same time making simple tasks more simple.
We humans are very inventive when it comes to simplifying life. That is why the public school system and the parochial school system was the basis of what it is today. We value the importance of learning and we will be quick to shun those who do not take the initiative to learn and to keep learning.
You are a student all you life because the more you learn the more connections and neurons that is being created within your brain.
Communication 10/1
There was a series of lectures that touched on how society communicates among one another. We explained how communication becomes a mode of social construct. This is evident by the way we are born into the world and only being able to mumble "ooo's" and "ahh's" It is not until the infant begins to actually absorb by hearing the sounds around him/her that he/she begins to mimic the language. That is why a young child has no problem learning a foreign language.
We humans are also adept to making various tools that makes our day-to-day lives more simple. As the years and centuries moved on, humans have become quiet lazy in the way of doing things. Since we graduated from an agrarian society to the system we are in now, which I would call "manufactualism", we have grown accustomed to being in one place to do many things. We even take for granted whenever we go to the bathroom and flush the toilet. Not long ago, there were no indoor plumbing; yet many of us will refuse to urinate and let alone defecate in any other location but a clean restroom.
Just comes to show us of how much humans has evolved in the little time that we have been on this planet.
We humans are also adept to making various tools that makes our day-to-day lives more simple. As the years and centuries moved on, humans have become quiet lazy in the way of doing things. Since we graduated from an agrarian society to the system we are in now, which I would call "manufactualism", we have grown accustomed to being in one place to do many things. We even take for granted whenever we go to the bathroom and flush the toilet. Not long ago, there were no indoor plumbing; yet many of us will refuse to urinate and let alone defecate in any other location but a clean restroom.
Just comes to show us of how much humans has evolved in the little time that we have been on this planet.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Journal Mon 9/28
The lecture on Thursday Sept. 24th was all about getting more in-tuned with how technology changed and benefited the lives of human beings. It was quite an insight to find out just what is considered technology. Human beings as an "animal" invents many different tools which is considered to be technology. The fact that stands humans apart from the rest of the animal kingdom is how we create new forms of technology which will make our matter of living much easier. Human beings also will create new things just because we want them. We will always be making new tools and gadgets for the main purpose of just having something new even if it has no justifiable purpose.
Another topic that we discussed in class is just how many invisible waves of information is floating in the air. In regards to all the information that is being pelted at us within the invisible spectrum, we are at no danger of being radioactively put into danger by them. Many people live in fear of being harmed by the wavelengths, but there is no proof of there being any danger of any forms of cancer or the likewise.
My understanding of technology is quite different from some other peoples perception of technology. I am comfortable with the many forms and innovations. I even enjoy the recent upgrade to Blackboard Version 9. The only thing that I am disliking about the upgrade is the absence of the E-Portfolio option. I have heard from other students and faculty members that the new upgrade is slow, confusing, and cluttered. I on the other hand has been waiting for the upgrade ever since hearing of it on the company's website.
The information discussed in the lecture just re-highlights that technology is of great help when it comes to making our lives more civilized, but it is only as efficient as the person or group that is using it.
Another topic that we discussed in class is just how many invisible waves of information is floating in the air. In regards to all the information that is being pelted at us within the invisible spectrum, we are at no danger of being radioactively put into danger by them. Many people live in fear of being harmed by the wavelengths, but there is no proof of there being any danger of any forms of cancer or the likewise.
My understanding of technology is quite different from some other peoples perception of technology. I am comfortable with the many forms and innovations. I even enjoy the recent upgrade to Blackboard Version 9. The only thing that I am disliking about the upgrade is the absence of the E-Portfolio option. I have heard from other students and faculty members that the new upgrade is slow, confusing, and cluttered. I on the other hand has been waiting for the upgrade ever since hearing of it on the company's website.
The information discussed in the lecture just re-highlights that technology is of great help when it comes to making our lives more civilized, but it is only as efficient as the person or group that is using it.
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