Danielle Dixon DESMA 9

Week 9:   Space has always been a very popular topic. In the United States, the topic of space and space travel has come a long way. It is a topic that is taught in school as you grow up. No matter if you are in elementary school, middle school, or high school, there will be a class or section in a class that covers space.  “A New Space Race.” Junior Scholastic Magazine , https://junior.scholastic.com/issues/2018-19/021819/a-new-space-race.html. The United States went from being in an arms race with the Soviet Union to get into space first, to private companies wanting to build spacecrafts and go into space. A very popular example of this is Elon Musk. He was so interested in space and space travel that he created a company, SpaceX, to try and get himself along with other people that are not trained astronauts a chance to go into space.  Person, and Krystal Hu. “Elon Musk's Spacex Is Poised to Become the Most Valuable U.S. Startup.” Reuters , Thomson Reuters, 17 May ...

  Week 8: Nanotechnology is a section of science that is growing and advancing very fast. Because of nanotechnology, humans can see things on an almost atomic level. This technology has been the reason for many breakthroughs in the science and medical world. It has also brought about a new form of art that has also become more popular with time. Prodromakis, Themis. “Five Ways Nanotechnology Is Securing Your Future.” Phys.org , Phys.org, 22 Mar. 2016, https://phys.org/news/2016-03-ways-nanotechnology-future.html. At one point in time, if scientists or medical professionals needed to use a microscope, the more they zoomed in the more blurry it got. Today, scientists and medical professionals can zoom in on things on an almost atomic level, and it will still be clear, thanks to nanotechnology. This technology has also helped in identifying different parts of the body, and nature, that humans have never gotten a clear view of before. Abdussalam-Mohammed, Wanisa. “Review of Therap...

Week 8 The human brain is a very interesting place. There are many people that study brains and the mind because there is always at least one difference between each brain. With the help of technology, the study of the brain and mind has become more mainstream and people see it more often. “Psychology IBDP: Techniques Used to Study the Brain in Relation to Behaviour.” Pamoja , 26 Oct. 2020, https://pamojaeducation.com/blog/psych-ibdp-techniques-study-brain-behaviour. Giovanni Frazzetto and Suzanne Anker labeled this mainstream emergence of neuroscience and the study of the mind as neuroculture. It has spread from just being about studying the brain, to people taking these studies, and using them to explain how a person acts or why they did something. The first thing that pops into my head when thinking about how more people use the brain to explain how or why someone does something is the show Criminal Minds. These FBI agents' purpose is to analyze crime scenes and unsubs in order ...

Event 2: This week I had the honor of listening to Jessica Irish and watching her documentary titled This Mortal Plastik. Jessica Irish created her documentary about plastics and how much they are used in society. A lot of things that humans buy use plastics to wrap them, and even worse, these plastics are single-use plastics, meaning that people just throw them away after.  Koop, Fermin. “Your Recycled Plastic Might Be Ending up in a Landfill. Here's Why.” ZME Science , 19 Feb. 2020, https://www.zmescience.com/science/your-recycled-plastic-might-be-ending-up-in-a-landfill-heres-why/. While watching the documentary, one of the most interesting things that I found was that Plankton generates over half of the Earth’s oxygen. In school, we learn that oxygen comes from the earth, but I can not remember a time when I was taught that plankton generates over half of the Earth’s oxygen. Planktons are tiny organisms that can not even fully swim well enough on their own and it is crazy to th...

    BioTech+Art   Because of Biotechnology, there are many things that have been modified genetically in order to benefit humans. The first that comes to mind is food. Many foods have been genetically modified in order to benefit humans. It has gotten so popular that when shopping for fruits and vegetables in the United States, stores and vendors label their fruits as organic and non-genetically modified (non-gmo) because it is normal for companies and farmers to genetically modify their crops.  Ritchie, Daniel. “An Honest Discussion on the Labeling of Gmos.” Science Says , 5 Dec. 2020, https://davissciencesays.ucdavis.edu/blog/honest-discussion-labeling-gmos. Things are constantly being modified in food, art, and life. While farmers and companies use biotechnology to make food last longer and things like that, there are artists that use it as an art form. Being able to modify nature and showcase it is a beautiful thing because nature is beautiful and can transform i...