Session 12

This session marks the end of the group presentations and the TWC classes that I have had over the past 13 weeks. The argument on the legalizing of marijuana was really interesting. However, apart from stating the benefits of legalizing marijuana, I felt the group could have made their argument stronger by addressing the problems that legalized marijuana would cause to society as well.

Overall, the past 3 months have been very enriching. There is without a doubt that I will be better equipped to tackle problems in the future with the concepts that I have taken away from this course.  

Session 11

The first week of groups presentations saw many interesting ideas put forth by the various groups as well as impressive web designs. The website created by the “Biological Warfare” group was really captivating and I must say that they have done an outstanding job. With the interactive section at the end which included quizzes, crossword puzzles and videos, it gives readers a good summary of the content presented in the site.

The presentation on the advances in 3D animation also caught my attention. Seeing how technology has affected the film industry in the past 20 years and how it has improved greatly since then, this industry is indeed an exciting prospect and one to watch in the coming years.  

Session 10

Our final topic was Technology Assessment and Forecasting; Developing a Framework for Understanding What Comes Next. We discussed what the drivers for Technology Assessment and Forecasting were and also the two major dimensions when assessing technology. These are the Economic/Business considerations as well as the Technology considerations. This lesson wraps up everything we have learnt through out the course, eventually giving us the skills necessary to forecast and extrapolate possible opportunities in society.

The presentation on how the U.S. is running out of energy re-emphasizes the point that the class was making over the past few weeks. The only time that people start to look into and develop renewable energy is when the price of oil increases. This I feel is the sad truth about humanity where the economic factors are often prioritized. At the rate that fossil fuels are extracted, its depletion is a certainty. The renewable energy market would therefore be one to look out for in the future.

To cap, I felt that the in-class discussions that we had each week were very insightful. There were also individual presentations that introduced very interesting concepts and technologies as well as fresh perspectives to the class.

Personal Rating: 7/10

Session 9

In this session, our focus was on the emerging and future technologies. We first began by identifying what some of the drivers for the development of emerging and future technologies were. These included unmet market opportunity and need, also how new insights and discoveries would lead to previously unimagined needs where people dont realize they need it until they have experienced it. I felt that, from the video that was showed to the class, “Programmable Matter” is a very interesting concept. The idea that people might eventually be able to customize and mould future products conveniently and on-demand seems fantastical at present. But knowing that certain companies have already started research in this field makes it a really exciting prospect for the future.

The other interesting emerging technology that was discussed in class was the concept of flexible screen displays. There would be a lot of potential for this particular technology in its application to the real world. Due to its light weight and portability, this can in fact be a substitute for the use of paper in certain situations. Therefore causing a reduction in the demand for paper and the detrimental effects on the environment. As discussed in class, they could even be made into wristbands for use in a hospital. Any information that a doctor or nurse might need when treating a patient would be displayed on the bands and can also be used to alert the related medical staff in the case of an emergency. There are endless possibilities.

We have been discussing the various forms of renewable energy for the past two weeks. Renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, geothermal etc. An emerging and future source of energy would be nuclear fusion as presented by Joshua. I feel that if the research in nuclear fusion has significant breakthroughs, it would definitely be a viable alternative as the renewable energy sources that we know of today often take up immense areas. If nuclear fusion is indeed a safe and very efficient method of obtaining energy and the cost to sustain a fusion reaction is reasonable, I am sure many countries would turn to this method of obtaining energy.

The video of Microsoft's future vision that was shown to the class a few weeks ago had many interesting concepts that could have been discussed in class

Personal Rating: 8/10

Session 8

Energy and World Change (Past, Present and Future) was our focus in this session. The continued use of fossil fuels will eventually lead to its depletion and mankind will therefore need to find alternative, renewable sources of energy. Such of which includes, solar, hydro, geothermal and wind, just to name a few. Some drivers of energy change mentioned in class included the rapid rising of energy prices, the rising energy consumption and need for economic development, need for sustainability and the discovery of new technologies and approaches.

The presentation on Geoengineering was rather interesting. It presents a certain set of solutions that introduces chemicals or other materials into the environment, thus altering it to solve some of the world's problems such as global warming. However, I feel that such a solution is feasible but only in the short run. As mentioned in the presentation, this is due to the fact that by adding chemicals such as sulphur dioxide into the stratosphere, the may be certain negative consequences. This is also not an excuse for people to continue releasing harmful pollutants such as greenhouse gases into the environment. Therefore, this solution can be implemented in the short run as the development of 'clean' and renewable energy continues, eventually replacing the need for fossil fuels altogether.

Osmotic power was also something that was introduced to me in class. The process involves the movement of water molecules from a higher concentration (W₁)to a lower one (W₂) through a semi-permeable membrane (M).

Image Obtained from :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Blue_energy_mechanism.png

The pressure created (P) would then be used to drive the turbines and produce electricity¹. As we move toward the future, renewable methods of obtaining energy will definitely have to play a larger role. Once the costs of harnessing these renewable sources of energy start to fall, more countries will turn to these sources and therefore ease the demand on fossil fuels.

Although osmotic power was not presented in our class, I felt that this should still have been discussed further.

Personal Rating: 8/10

1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmotic_power

Session 7

Session 7 was a continuation of the topic on BioBusiness Revolution. For this week, the focus shifted on to Agribiology, Environmental life sciences and also Industrial biotechnology. Genetically modified foods and biofuels were some of the aspects of the biobusiness revolution that we discussed.

The quote by Norman Borlaug, “Civilization as we know today could not have evolved, no can it survive, without an adequate food supply”, is a fitting observation. It is only when the basic needs of society are able to be met that it would be able to progress. Another term that were introduced to the class was bioremediation which was the usage of biological methods to clean up industrial waste.

The presentation of corn based ethanol fuel was interesting and it covered the reasons behind how Brazil was able to switch to ethanol fuel but USA was not. Personally I feel that biofuels are indeed a very good alternative energy source as this energy source is fully compatible with present fuel and engine technology¹. The downside to biofuels are similar to most other forms of renewable energy sources available today, which is the incredibly large amount of space needed to generate sufficient amounts energy.

I felt the topic on achieving food security could be discussed further

Personal Rating: 7/10

1http://www.habmigern2003.info/biogas/biofuels.html

Session 6

For Session 6, the topic of discussion was the Biobusiness Revolution: Healthcare and Biomedical Sciences (Past, Present and Future). Dr. Shahi posted some facts of Biobusiness to us which included how “Biobusiness already constitutes over 25% of global GDP and employs some 40% of the world's labour force”. However it is also inferred from these figures that a large number of this labour force draw relatively low wages, such as those engaged in “subsistence level farming in developing countries”. This would include 60% and 70% of China and India respectively.

The problem with the medical industry and other businesses for that matter is the obsession with the bottom line. Companies simple cannot solely focus on social responsibility and ignore profits. The swine flu mortality rate was 50%¹. The first case of swine flu was reported in Mexico in April 2009 and on October 2009, 7 months later, a vaccine was developed. This of course affected many developed countries and as such the economic benefits for developing a vaccine would be high. There was also an urgency to develop a vaccine. However contrast this to the problem of malaria in Africa and we see that although its mortality rate is between 85-90%², there is not as much urgency involved in the research and distribution of the treatments and this problem continues to linger. I could be wrong but I would feel that the reason behind this would be the lower economic benefits that a company might have by investing in this field.

With the completion of the Human Genome Project as presented by Danica, the treatment of diseases and other forms of ailments is now viewed from a different perspective. Instead of curing the disease, it would be possible to stop the disease from arising altogether just by altering one's DNA. This of course brings about the age old debate on whether it is right for man to play god. From my point of view, if by inserting or removing a certain gene would eradicate the possibility of a person contracting a particular disease, then this course of research should be pursued. However, if the purpose of such research would be for aesthetic reasons or an “enhancement of the human condition”, I would be against it. The issue that I am concerned about would be the eventual “mixing” of these genes. Assuming that such treatments were to exist, a wide array of people would have their DNA altered with a different gene altered for each specific ailment and yes, this might be a very effective cure for certain diseases. However, the thought that I find troubling would be the genetic make up of future generations and the implications that might arise as a result. There might not be any side effects when such treatments are introduced to a patient at first. But the problem lies in the future generations and if implications really do arise, a large number of people would be affected.

I felt the topic on digitalized medical records could have been discussed further.

Personal Rating: 8/10

1http://www.howtodothings.com/health-fitness/how-to-cure-swine-flu

2http://www.babyboomercaretaker.com/funeral/mortality-rate/What-Is-The-Current-Mortality-Rate-Of-Malaria.html