Today is the final lesson for the module Technology and World Change. I realized I have learnt so much since the first seminar. Today’s lesson was presentations again. After have dealt with some housekeeping matters, we had the first presentation which was on vaccines. A vaccine is a biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease. A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism, and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe or its toxins. The agent stimulates the body’s immune system to recognize the agent as foreign, destroy it, and “remember” it, so that the immune system can more easily recognize and destroy any of these microorganisms that it later encounters. Prof informed the class on therapeutic vaccines, which not only prevents the patient from contracting certain diseases, it also boosts the patient’s immune system. I found the future aspect of vaccines rather interesting. The group discussed on how vaccines could be developed for HIV. Work with monoclonal antibodies (MAb) has proven that the human body can defend itself against HIV, and certain individuals remain asymptomatic for decades after HIV infection. Potential candidates for antibodies and early stage results from clinical trials have been announced. However these are early results, and have not been developed to the point of human testing, or have not been replicated. Also, the delivery of vaccines was quite informative as I have learnt through my own web report research that GM banans could be potentially used as an edible vaccine.
The second group presented on Technology and its Impacts on Music. I remembered fondly the times of the Walkman and how it dominated the music industry in the early 2000s. However, with the introduction of the iPod, the Walkman generally lost market share and its leading edge to Apple. The main reason why I think Walkman was not as influential and popular among the masses is due to its portability. Cassettes and music CDs were not very portable and the lack of shuffling between song tracks was a major drawback. Apple’s iPod was an awesome hit because it was able to hold songs in its portable storage and had a cool and iconic design. The aftermath of Apple’s domination resulted in Sony not being able to regain its market share again even with its re-invention of MP3 players. The creation of music through time has also changed. Notably, in the past such as during the Classical Period which sees the likes of Mozart and Beethoven. In the past few years, we have more DJ-ing and mixing of music. Creation of music via digital instruments such as Garage bands are now more convenient and able to add that extra techno touch to a music.
After a short break, we continued with the third presentation which was on Food and Technology. This group used Weebly to host their webpage instead of Wix, which was a refreshing change. The group presented on how the role of food has changed and that it is now an essential part of energy production. For example in the case of ethanol, corn is harvested in South and North America as a cleaner source of energy as compared to fossil fuels. However, whether or not such forms of energy production is sustainable or not remains questionable. The group informed the class on the usage of preservatives and brought up the case of a McDonalds meal being left in the open for 6 months and has yet to decompose. I went to did some research on my own and found that not only did the regular McDonald’s burgers not rot, but the home-ground burgers did not rot either. It means that there’s nothing that strange about a McDonald’s burger not rotting. Any burger of the same shape will act the same way. The real question is, why? The burger doesn’t rot because it’s small size and relatively large surface area help it to lose moisture very fast.
The last group presented on Crime Tracking Technology. Crime is a social phenomenon brought about by humans themselves and law enforces aim to capture and track down criminals who breach laws. Some of the interesting points brought up by the group was on how sniffer dogs were used in the past and are still found in the police force at present. They are mainly used to search for drugs and narcotics in luggages. However, the role of dogs in the Army is also rather pertinent such as how dogs were able to track down Osama bin Laden. While dogs were used by constables in the middle ages, they were not well-trained enough and would bite their handlers. Another fascinating point was the use of fingerprinting technology also known as dactylography. In ancient China, fingerprints were used to sign off documents since fingerprints are unique. However, I was quite curious as to how ancient Chinese distinguish the difference between the prints without the use of proper lighting and equipment. Currently,we have mobile phone tracking to track down positions of criminals through their cellular communications. Mobile phones also increases the ease of reporting crimes. There is an ongoing debate on profiling potential criminals through a particular genotype as suspects have the right to remain free until proven guilty. This example was exemplified in the movie “Minority Report”. The group talked about electronic tagging and I have observed in my neighbourhood that there are a few teenagers with ankle tags. I think such ankle tags would deter them from staying out late at night and cause trouble.
I would rate this lesson a 7/10 as there was not much content. Nevertheless I learnt alot from my fellow classmates who presented. I would consolidate what I have learnt through the past several weeks in preparation for my final examination. I would also like to wish the class all the best to their papers. Good luck!
everybody's changing 