Dosage 11/Week 12

Brief Overview/Summary:

Week 12/session 11 marks the start of the group presentations. Each week 4 groups will have 15minutes to present their projects using the website they constructed. In this week, futuristic buildings, clean energy and nanotechnology were covered.

Interesting Observation and Ideas:

The first group presented on futuristic buildings. They started with covering the historical perspective of buildings, specifically the history of material used. The earliest humans started living in natural structures such as caves then logs wood and mud were used. Sticks, straw and dunks were then used to build houses, even till now houses are built of this material. Subsequently, concrete was used and developed with the reinforcement of materials.

Susceptibility- strength of buildings of buildings are vital. It is these buildings that prevent the collapse of buildings during natural disasters and protects people. Technologies such as the pendulum are installed in buildings to counter the forces of natural disasters. Upcoming materials such as bendable concrete and spider web are being researched on. With technology constantly advancing, it is only a matter of time that scientist or researchers find the right type of material to combat certain type of disasters.

Ancient Egypt was credited for the introduction of metal tools, materials. Ancient Greece is where the first use of pulleys. Now tall cranes and all sorts of materials are being used. The future of construction is the use of autonomous machines. Where errors can be minimized and more efficient.

Currently, in Germany scientist are looking into using straws to power houses. Transparent solar cells could also be used in the future to construct windows. A house called The Wolke 7 was introduced by the group, it seems like a house attached to a huge balloon which might not be very feasible if met with disastrous weather. All in all, these were aimed at an idea of a sustainable house. Being self-sufficient and using sustainable energy, e.g. The Mirai Nihon House which can be powered by merely a car battery.  

The second group presented on clean energy. Traditional use of energy contributed to 2/3 of environmental effects. Clean energy is becoming more and more important due to the increasing shortage of energy sources and rising prices. Solar power is the answer to our energy problems. The amount of energy that the sun gives to the earth in one hour is equal to the amount of energy human beings worldwide use in a year. Solar trash, solar paint and solar desert structure were some of the interesting products introduced by the groups. Biofuel was also mentioned as a source of clean energy. Next hydroelectricity was being covered with dams being used to explain this concept. The disadvantage for dams namely land and environmental changes do seem to outweigh its advantage. Nuclear energy was also introduced as a form of clean energy. Once again the disadvantage of danger of nuclear energy such as dangerous processes, limited supply of uranium and radioactive waste does seem to outweigh its advantages.

The third group presented on nanotechnology. They suggested that it reverses the ways that products are being built. In my perspective nanotechnology is a very broad technology. Meaning this technology can be used in countless of areas. What’s interesting is the potential and upcoming applications that it holds. Areas such as the medical industry could be revolutionary change by the development of nanotechnology. Interesting examples mentioned by the group like nano robots and an artificial red blood cell that is made of diamond are just the beginning of products nanotechnology can bring about. The group also covered a lot on research and development of nanotechnology as it is still a relatively new technology. More and more countries are starting to look into and invest in nanotechnology. However, this could have various impacts on the world like socio-economic effects in which inequality worldwide could be amplified. Rising threat security and arms race might be other impacts. Ethics implications were also

Key Takeaway Points:

The evolution of technology is a constant process. When one technology reaches near its full potential or the end of its cycle, another begins. People are constantly looking for technologies to aid the human race, to put it in a more selfish form it is to help themselves. In recent times, the research of technology is increasingly leaning towards the sustainable side. However, the development of a particular technology is a long and tedious process. In order to yield the maximum benefits from a technology takes a long time. The question is if that particular technology is worth investing such time and effort into it.

Issue for further discussion:

In today’s lesson many impacts were discussed, but one particular impact which was not covered extensively by any group was the ethical impact. Ethics can be grouped with social impacts, nevertheless I feel that it is an important innate aspect of humans that is widely controversial and subjective which is often blown out of proportion. Basically, ethical impacts could have been discussed and explored more.

Personal Rating:

7/10. Generally, I feel that the presentations we had today are relatively long. Time limitation should be emphasized as groups tend to rubble on about minute and specific details instead of presenting the important points and focusing on the big picture.