MadilynNDESMA9

The topic for this week’s blog is nanotechnology and art. Very similar to the previous week’s topics, these two subjects compare in many different ways, such helping with medicine, understanding the laws of physics on a smaller level, and learning of how patterns and structures found in the environment can inspire many artists to continue with the research of nanotechnology.  Professor James K. Gimzewski spoke in all of the lecture videos for this week’s topic and I found many of the things he said very enlightening. For instance, he discussed how the idea and research of nanotechnology was founded mainly by a physicist named Richard Feynman. Richard Feynman's understanding of nanotechnology (even though it was not called this when he discovered it) was a very big turning point for how different, already existing aspects of life can be adjusted to better suit different forms of life in our world.   (Photo: Richard Feynman) Also introduced by Professor Gimzewski was De...

The relationship between neuroscience and art seems to be very similar to me as medical technology and art, which I did a blog post about a few weeks ago. The topic of neuroscience, however, is especially interesting for me because I am currently in a course called “Philosophy of the MInd” this quarter.  I found it interesting to learn of topics such as consciousness, unconsciousness, and how drugs affect the way neuroscientists and artists have learned about the brain and the way it functions for us humans. (Image: Japanese-styled art inspired by neuroscience) Introduced in the first lecture video, Professor Vesna talks of the concept of consciousness, how it was founded, and the things associated with consciousness.  Consciousness is simple the state of being conscious, or I like to think it basically just means being aware that you are alive and functioning. Consciousness was rooted by great scientists, such as Franz Joseph Gall, Pierre Paul Broca, and Santiago R...

The second event I attended for this class was called “Octopus Brainstorming: Mind to Mind Communication” by Professor Vesna and Mark Cohen. In the event, my fellow students and I learned of a live experiment that explores how brainwaves react to music and color. It was fascinating to learn that two individuals have the capability of being compatible with one another during a rave or concert because their brain wave lengths are on the same exact pattern. During the demonstration of the experiment, two volunteers were asked to come forward and wear headpieces that would track the waves of their brains. The wave lengths were displayed by the program on a computer that tracked the colors displayed by each individual. If the colors were the same, then it meant the two individuals had the same wave length patterns, but if the colors were completely different then it meant they were not the most compatible. As you can see in the image above, the two individuals did n...

Biotechnology is definitely a topic I am not very familiar with, despite its popularity in the news and the advancements that have come with the science.  Learning of the different artists who dedicate much of their art and research to biology has broaden my interests greatly about the subject.  I’ve come to discover that many controversial topics that appear in the news are derived from biotechnology.  Joe Davis is an example of a famous artist who devotes much of his research to the effects of biological experimentation.  He is known for using ecology bacteria and female genitalia. Female genitalia in particular because he wanted to balance gender inequality since he believed women are the creators of life. (Image: Joe Davis /LiveJournal) The controversy about the experimentation on actual life is a topic that was clearly addressed in this week’s lectures. Personally, I believe it is a great advancement for the knowledge of life forms and science for bot...

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1-E2N9w94NcY0tw-sEE3tXzbJlo9rCoyD6u0z_mOWF1c Here is a link to my Midterm Project!