Sunday, May 22, 2016

Week 8 NanoTech + Art

What scientists can do with nanotechnology is fascinating, the leaps and bounds we could make in medicine, food, and everyday life are what caught my attention during this weeks lectures.
The fact that nanoparticles have existed for such a long time and humans just didn't know it is quite astonishing. In lecture part 3, Dr. Gimzewski was speaking about how Silver Nanoparticles are used for various things. One of the most useful ways the Silver Nanoparticles could be used is for self-cleaning fabrics, the amount of water and energy this would save if it were a common thing would be insurmountable. It would create a way for us to be more efficient and clean with our clothes.

What scientists can do with nanotechnology and medicine I believe, will move medicine and offer great benefits to people in the future. Samuel Stupp and his coworkers designed a molecule that will regenerate tissues and organs while using self-assembly. We have the potential to regenerate limbs and organs that humans can't regenerate on their own, it could potentially rid of prosthetics all together if this became more advanced and common.

To me, most importantly from this weeks lecture is that nanotechnology gives scientists the ability to improve lives. My grandpa who has had a long battle with cancer would benefit from the possibility of their being other ways to go through chemotherapy. There is now nanotechnology that reduces the toxicity of the treatment, and there are nano shells that target cancer cells, illuminate them with infrared lights and kill off the cancer. I really enjoyed this weeks lecture and I'm excited to see how nanotechnology will continue to grow.







Gimzewski, Jim, and Victoria Vesna. "The Nanomeme Syndrome: Blurring of Fact & Fiction in the Construction of a New Science." The Nanomeme Syndrome: Blurring of Fact & Fiction in the Construction of a New Science. UCLA, n.d. Web. 22 May 2016.

Gimzewski, Jim. "Nanotech for Artists Part 1 - Dr. Gimzewski." 22 May 2016. Lecture.

Thompson, D'Arcy Wentworth, and John Tyler Bonner. On Growth and Form. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1961. Web. 22 May 2016.

"Nanotechnology in Energy." Nanowerk. NanoWerk, n.d. Web. 22 May 2016.

"Benefits for Treatment and Clinical Outcomes." NCI Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer. USA.gov, n.d. Web. 22 May 2016.

4 comments:

  1. Hi Darian!
    I definitely agree that nanotech has potential for enormous leaps in medicine! However, I think it'd be interesting to see how nanotech interacts with visual art, and I think the Nova video from the Resources section shows interesting perspectives!
    http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/making-stuff.html#making-stuff-smaller

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  2. Hi Darian! I loved your post this week and it is so exciting and good to know that there are already such positive aspects of nanotechnology affecting lives today. I also agree that medicine should focus on unleashing the potential of nanotechnology to strengthen and further the medicinal world in search of more ways to keep us all healthy.

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  3. D-
    Self cleaning fabrics would the the best thing ever. As an athlete I feel like I go through all of my clothes in 2 days. I'm sure it's way worse for soccer. As an emerging technology I'm sure we will see more and more advances as difficult and unbelievable as it might be.

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  4. as you touched on medical influence of medicine to nanoart, I strongly believe that the most powerful stronghold human scientists and artists achieved was inventing cures through this amazing new technology. I believe in experimenting with creative ideas, experimenting how to use such creative mechanisms to cooperate with various conditions and systems, scientists themselves can really be called artists as well. I never quite agreed to what CP Snow has mentioned about the third world, but I believe this nanotech and nanoart can really become the third world connecting the two worlds of arts and sciences, as technology.

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