Week 8 Blog Post
Professor
Vesna introduces us to this week’s discussion about nanotechnology by
describing it as one of the most important and groundbreaking forms of art we
have yet to study. Professor Vesna explains that the rise of nanotechnology is “pushing
us over the edge into the 21st century.” Being a collaborative
science it is rapidly being connected to the arts as artists and scientists are
coming together to further explore this field.
I really
enjoyed listening to Dr. Gimzewki’s lectures as he continued to elaborate on
nanotechnology. Gimzewski broke down nanotechnology to the atom and explained
how the sizing worked, as nanotechnology uses a scale of 10, illustrating just
how tiny these atoms are. From this I came to realize that nanotechnology is
all about precision. With every little atom that makes up this entire field
being so small, you must be very precise and exact when examining the images.
Dr. Gimzewki professed that nanotechnology is already starting to “change the
world in social and economic ways.” This field of science is a huge
breakthrough that is allowing us to see things in a whole different light.
After explaining
the scaling of the atoms, Dr. Gimzewki discussed the background to
nanotechnology. While most of the huge discoveries have been made fairly
recently, nanotechnology dates back to Richard Feynman and the lecture he gave
at Caltech in 1959. Feynman was the first person who saw a future in this
field. His ideas were then built upon by K. Eric Drexler who viewed
nanotechnology from an engineer and mechanical point of view. Learning about
these two men and their contributions to nanotechnology helped me understand
that this topic is constantly being studied and developed by new scientists.
Each idea leads to the next and it is beginning to pick up pace as more ideas
and contributions are being produced by these scientists who have studied past
scientists’ work with nanotechnology.
In the
second lecture we learned about the new form of carbon that was discovered due
to nanotechnology. This example proved the positive affects that nanotechnology
can produce. Dr. Gimzewki also explained how the invention of the new Scanning
Tunneling Microscope helped advance nanotechnology greatly. From here, nanotechnology
has been able to connect to the field of art. Due to the fact that this new
microscope can produce more accurate images of the atoms, we are now able to
see the art that exists behind the science. Artists are able to view these
images and use their own creative minds to produce even more works of art.
Works Cited
"About Nanotechnology." About Nanotechnology.
N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2016.
Curwen, Thomas. "Taking a Step toward a Machine That
Can Think." Los Angeles Times. Los
Angeles Times, 25 Feb. 2014. Web.
22 May 2016.
Feder, Barnaby J. "The Art of Nanotech." Bits
The Art of Nanotech Comments. The New York
Times, 25 Jan. 2008. Web. 22 May
2016.
"NanoArt 21." NanoArt 21. N.p., n.d. Web.
22 May 2016.
"What Is Nanotechnology?" Nano. N.p., n.d.
Web. 22 May 2016.
It's crazy to realize that there are even particles as small as nanoparticles that can be impactful in our daily lives. Dr. Gimzewki is definitely right, that nanoparticles are starting to “change the world in social and economic ways.” To me, the relevance in our food really stood out. The fact that the slim shakes use silica nanoparticles coated in chocolate was flabbergasting to say the least. How is it even legal to allow for the consumption of silica? I think the FDA needs to begin investigating scenarios like this, because who knows what these particles can do to us when there are enough of them present in a larger concentration.
ReplyDeleteKelly Anna! Thanks for posting about this. I think is is super interesting about the food that how many foods are made with silica nanoparticles, for example the slim shakes. I think it is so crazy how foods are made with these nanoparticles, there is no way the body was built to process chemicals and foreign bodies like that and it is really bad that we are so used to putting these particles in our bodies. Nanoparticles are in a lot more things than you think, in shampoos, makeup, foods, and many other products it is super interesting how they can be in so many things. Thanks for sharing!
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