Biomedical Library Event Blog

For my last event I decided to travel to the Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library, located on the UCLA campus. I have been to this building many times before, however I have never been here through the lens of this class, with the artsci thinking cap on. As you first walk into the library there is a very beautiful shrubbery arrangement on your left (as depicted below).

Figure 1: The Entrance to the biomedical library

This right away set the tone of the library to be that of a welcoming one. The term library is often associated with works of philosophy, poetry or literature, however this specific library holds much information on the biomedical field. In this vail of shrubbery there lies a statue.

Figure 2: Model with a truss by Harold Pastorius

This sculpture provides an interesting perspective, but it is fitting for the biomedical library, as it provides a combination of something engineering related (a truss) with the artistic expression that is often found in most sculptures. This sculpture provides a very interesting gateway into the library portion of the building. Unfortunately with finals seasons upon us, I was unable to take any pictures inside of the bio-medical library. In a brief description of it however, I noticed many interesting aspects of its interior. For one, despite the outside’s appearance, the inside was very modern, with slim curvy features and bright colors. Additionally, the stacks were not the defining feature of this library, as is often found in other libraries on campus. But rather the space was mostly allocated to student study areas. My overall impression of the library was that it provided a good conduit for a blend of arts found in the library with bio-medical science.

Figure 3: A selfie of me in front of the biomedical library entrance

Event Blog: Singular Spaces

The absurdity of the Making Strange is juxtaposed in the same museum with Singular Spaces. This although was just a collection of pictures on several walls, they portrayed a very interesting message. There were four different homes where the owners put theses amazing works of art on their property (and in some cases not their own property)

Figure 1: Myself and the Singular Spaces description.

Figure 2: Julio Basanta Lopez, Demons above entrance

Julio Basanta Lopez’s pieces he put different pieces of art surrounding his house. A lot of demons mostly, which makes sense as he is from South America and the catholic church takes a prominent role in the culture down there. In the above work he placed several demons above his front door, I would assume to scare off all unwanted bad spirits into his home. It is interesting to me that he would spend the money on building these huge demons in the font of his house.

Figure 3: Julio Basanta Lopez, Western Entrance

On his western entrance Julio Basanta Lopez went much more intense than what was on the other entrance of his house. Further intensifying the demons placed around his house. This display is contrasted by these displays by Peter Buch and Francisco feel Rio Cuenca.

Figure 4: Head with a dream by Peter Buch

Peter Buch was known for all the human shaped buildings around his property, like the one depicted above. The mouth of the face was depicted as the door, which provides a very interesting concept of the human head representing a home.

Figure 5: Francisco Feel Rio Cuenca, north wall of third patio

Francisco’s art compilation uses the shells of a sea snails to decorate his whole house.  This is interesting thing to see dead organisms being repurposed for art. In conclusion, the singular spaces exhibit provided a very interesting juxtaposition to the Making Strange exhibit.

Event Blog: Making Strange

This week I decided to take a trip to the Making Strange Exhibit at the Fowler Museum exhibit on campus. The name making strange, I felt didn’t really do the exhibit justice. I found most of the works of art to very disturbing and extremely strange.

Figure 1: Selfie of myself and the piece entitled Spine

In the first piece I saw, and took a selfie with, (shown above) was an interesting one entitled Spine. It had a body split in half and a spine placed where you would expect it to be. From an artistic standpoint it provided a perspective not normally provided, and from a scientific standpoint, it provided a well defined image of a human spine. It wouldn’t be completely out of the question for med students to come to the exhibit to study this spine.

Figure 2: Boat

In the piece depicted above a woman is in the boat above a man. While this may have some deeper meaning to it, I feel like since it is a female artist she is attempting to demonstrate how females stay alert while men take the easy road and get to sleep.

Figure 3: Sleeper

In the piece Sleeper, I feel like it her critique on the new desk job work environment that most people take in present times. Where essentially with their restless feet people’s brains also go to sleep.

Figure 4: Stretcher

In the last piece that I looked at was entitled stretcher. Which I feel like has a pretty obvious message, of the burden that babies put on their mothers. As you can see the woman is on a stretcher, and there is no other people to help her up on stretcher, which again symbolizes the woman’s struggle with childbirth and often alone. In conclusion, this exhibit was very strange, however I felt it provided me a view point and artistic experience I wouldn’t have gotten otherwise.

Space + Art

Figure 1: Graphic Depiction of the space race

Space technology and advancement would not have been possible without advertisement from art against the opposing countries in the space race and in NASA and beyond. Art has also done a great job of depicting the space race, mostly in the movie department. In the past half century, there have been three major movies that romanticize the technological advancements in both the space race and in working towards re-landing on the moon (Dutch).

Figure 2: October Sky

The movie October sky, which came out in 90’s and is based on a true story of a boy that lead his group of high school friends in successfully launching his own rocket after watching the Russian Sputnik satellite travel in the sky. The movie caught the eye of many young students, myself included, to continue to pursue their passion in the sciences. Depicting the engineering process as a very fun and beneficial one. I know for me personally it swayed me towards the sciences after I watched it. In addition to the movies about the engineering process there are also a good number of movies about the danger that can come from outer space.

Figure 3: Gravity the Movie

In the movie Gravity, depicted above, the crew of the space station has to deal with debris coming towards their ship. These types of movies lead to a different motivation for engineering, motivating saving the planet from extraterrestrial items.  Hollywood overall has vastly helped the advancement of space technology. Further displaying the relation between the sciences and art. These two, while considered to be independent, art has helped to drive space technology moving forward.

References:

1. Anderson, Ross. The Best Way to Find Aliens: Look for Their Solar Power Plants. The Atlantic. 4 Oct 2012. Web. 18 May 2015. Link.
2. Dubner, Stephen. Is Space Exploration Worth the Cost? A Freakonomics Quorum. Freakonomics. 11 Jan 2008. Web. 18 May 2015. Link. 
3. Garland, Joe. The Kardashev Scale – Type I, II, III, IV & V Civilization. Quarks & Quasars. 19 Jul 2014. Web. 16 May 2015. Link.
4. Majumdar, Nivedit. When Will We Go Interstellar – Part 1. Yaabot. 1 June 2014. Web. 18 May 2015. Link. 
5. Venable, Nick. Google X Confirms Attempts At Space Elevators And Hoverboards. Giant Freaking Robot. 16 April 2014. Web. 18 May 2015. Link.
6. Yarow, Jay. Bill Gates Disses Tech Billionaires Spending Their Free Time On Space Rockets: I Don't See How It Improves Humanity. Business Insider, Tech. 8 Aug 2013. Web. 18 May 2015. Link.

Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology is very much so an up and coming field and has become a sector of industry that is beginning to make a lot of money. For me, the most interesting part of nanotechnology that was addressed in the lecture was silver nanotechnology. As someone that runs and works out a decent amount, silver nanotechnology has directly impacted my day to day life.      

Figure 1: Example of silver nanotechnology in day to day life

Introducing silver into clothing and in household appliances helps kill bacteria, which reduces smell in athletic gear, and helps to keep cutting surfaces sterile amongst other things. However, with any introduction of new technology, there is still uncertainty how all of this exposure will impact both human lives as well as the environment that we live in.

Figure 2: Effects of mass exposure to silver nanotechnology is still uncertain

There are some studies that indicate that nanotechnology has the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier and enter the human brain.[1] This can have potentially very harmful effects on human if nanotechnology, and silver technology specifically goes largely unchecked. Ian Illuminato, the director of the Friends of the Earth, US technology campaign was quoted as saying that we need to “do this in a mature and adult way. That’s not to say this isn’t a helpful technology and it doesn’t have a place in our future, but in the way it’s evolving right now, it’s very risky.”[2] Silver nanotechnology has been instrumental in preventing infection in burn patients. In addition there hasn’t been a single pathogen that studies have found that silver cannot kill.[3] It’ll be interesting to see in the future the path that this technology takes. It was been proven to have some adverse effects on the environment but has been very effective in helping human lives.

Figure 3: Example of very useful silver technology in human health

References 

[1] Seltenrich, Nate. "EHP – Nanosilver: Weighing the Risks and Benefits." EHP. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 May 2015. <http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/121-a220/>.

"Nanosilver." Issues: Antibacterials: — Beyond Pesticides. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 May 2015. <http://www.beyondpesticides.org/antibacterial/nano.php>.

[2] http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/121-a220/

[3] Jose Ruben Morones et al 2005 Nanotechnology 16 2346. doi:10.1088/0957-4484/16/10/059
Received 21 June 2005, in final form 13 July 2005. Published 26 August 2005. 
IOP Publishing Ltd

[4]Deardorff, Julie. "Silver Nanoparticles Kill Germs, Raise Health Concerns." Tribunedigital-chicagotribune. N.p., 16 Feb. 2014. Web. 25 May 2015. <http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-02-16/health/ct-nanosilver-met-20140216_1_consumer-products-other-antibiotic-drugs-germs>.

[5]"Silver Database." NanoTech Project (2011): n. pag. Web. <http://www.nanotechproject.org/process/assets/files/7039/silver_database_fauss_sept2_final.pdf>.

Neuroscience + Art

Neuroscience and art have had a close relationship since the inception of neuroscience. The brain itself is a work of art, and much like the anatomy of the rest of the body, artists often took the brain as a subject of their works of art.

Figure 1: Graphic image of the brain

From the brain, comes the desire to understand how it works. Many studies and theories have surfaced surrounding the workings of the brain. Early Greek philosophers believed that the shape of one’s head determined how smart or artistic a person is. Although this was incorrect, the concept of it was not that far off, as many studies determined that different parts of the brain do correlate to functions of personality and actions. But I want to focus mostly on the LSD studies and its effect on the brain. The works of Timothy Leary came under great scrutiny since he was giving LSD to students to study its effects. Obviously they weren’t unwarranted as like the image below, LSD is known to make people see weird things and act in strange ways.

Figure 2: Image of something people may see on LSD

LSD, which until recently had been considered just a recreational drug, is illegal, however people are now again finding real lasting fixes to some mental issues. Most significantly it found that LSD helped terminally ill patients with the anxiety that comes with the knowledge of their impending doom. This is something that will really help those people moving forward. It is always interesting to me when I find out that something that is considered to be very illegal actually helps people it a very good way.

Figure 3: LSD propaganda

References

"The '60s Are Gone, But Psychedelic Research Trip Continues." NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 17 May 2015. <http://www.npr.org/2014/03/09/288285764/the-60s-are-gone-but-psychedelic-research-trip-continues>.

Bateson, Greggory. "MIND AND NATURE." Oikos. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2015. <http://www.oikos.org/mind&nature.htm>.

Devlin, Hannah. "Psychedelic Drugs like LSD Could Be Used to Treat Depression." The Guardian. N.p., 4 Mar. 2015. Web. <http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fscience%2F2015%2Fmar%2F05%2Fpsychedelic-drugs-like-lsd-could-be-used-to-treat-depression-study-suggests>.

Rosch, Eleanor. "The Embodied Mind." Google Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2015. <https://books.google.com/books?id=QY4RoH2z5DoC&pg=PA22&lpg=PA22&dq=%22the%2Bembodied%2Bmind%22%2Bvarela&source=web&ots=1SOeYrx-HL&sig=mDZ8QxYMNtd9-CAGAj3IHTehlj4#v=onepage&q=%22the%20embodied%20mind%22%20varela&f=false>.

Thomas, Emily. "First LSD Study In 40 Years Shows Promising Medical Uses." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, n.d. Web. 17 May 2015. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/06/lsd-anxiety-study-psychotherapy-_n_4906596.html>.

Bio Tech + Art

Alot of controversy surrounds the topic of biological sciences and art. May people attribute the works of genetically modified fruits and vegetables as well as the genetic modification of animals and organisms and something inherently bad for either religious reasons or animal activist reasons.[1]

Figure 1: Potential genetically modified fruit, lime apple.

The modification of fruit and other plants has been something that has taken place since 1982, and have for the most part benefited society. [2] For a long time in fact cross pollination of certain version of the same fruit (seedless and seeded watermelon) in order to meet an aesthetic level to customers. However it is tough to say whether using biological species is moral, let alone is it actually art. Arguing this as a form of art could also lend to the argument that the offspring of two attractive people (such as Tom Brady and his wife Giselle is a piece of art.

Figure 2: Tom Brady and his super model wife.

Additionally what can this art form lead to? In our current society some of our best art form is found in advertisement. With genetic modification like of butterflies[3], will we eventually see advertisement like the one below?

Figure 3: Genetically Branded Butterfly

It’s hard even to differentiate between what is art and what is biotechnological advances. Fluorescent rabbits and rats for example, while they do prove to have some artistic quality to them (in my opinion a very abstract), they do prove to serve great scientific benefits to society especially in cancer research. [4] Lastly, something we should consider is the limits that should be placed on human creativity. Is it ethical or even necessary for humans to use biological beings as a means to express art? How far can this expression go, in a later century will we be witnessing humans becoming Fluorescent. These questions all need to be considered when dealing with biotech and art, how far can art go before it becomes detrimental to society.

References

---

[1] "The Non-GMO Project." The NonGMO Project RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2015. <http://www.nongmoproject.org/>.

[2] "GMO Timeline: A History of Genetically Modified Foods - GMO Inside." GMO Inside. N.p., 10 Mar. 2013. Web. 10 May 2015. <http://gmoinside.org/gmo-timeline-a-history-genetically-modified-foods/>.

[3] "Next Nature." NextNaturenet Exploring the Nature Caused by People RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2015. <http://www.nextnature.net/2006/12/branded-butterfly-wings/>.

[4]Ferris, Robert. "Scientists Have Now Bred Bunnies That Glow Green." Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 14 Aug. 2013. Web. 10 May 2015. <http://www.businessinsider.com/scientists-grow-fluorescent-green-rabbits-2013-8>.

[5] "The Story of How An Artist Created a Genetic Hybrid of Himself and a Petunia." Smithsonian. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2015. <http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-story-of-how-an-artist-created-a-genetic-hybrid-of-himself-and-a-petunia-25148544/?no-ist>.

Medicine + Technology + Art

In this week's lecture Professor Vesna discussed the combination of medicine technology and art. The advancements in modern technology has lent itself to the rapid advances of technology in medicine. Technology often has allowed for seeing the inside of the human body. However, before the advancements of technology, art has had to play a large role in understanding how the human body works. In order to see the skeleton of a human without a camera or any other technology, images of the human body had to be drawn by hand. 

Imaging of the human body, skeleton and muscles

Above an image of the human body is shown running, this image back before the advancement of technology would of had to been drawn. In addition to using art as a means to display the human body, it also helps to prevent injury. As a baseball player and a pitcher, elbow injury is an all but sure thing, in the image below the area of tommy john surgery is illustrated.  

Tommy John Surgery area for baseball players. 

Lastly, discussed in Vesna's lecture is the concept of RFID microchips. It is becoming ever real of a probability that they will take a larger role in our future moving forward, either as tracking devise or even to help us open doors. These RFID chips also come with controversy, as addressed in the lecture. In fact, in the recent ObamaCare bill, the RFID chip was introduced as a way to track patients. This has sparked great controversy. 

RFID chip next to a grain of rice

Medicine and art has many other avenues, such as plastic surgery, which not only helps people who are disfigured but also makes people look how they wish they did. 

References

Brandon, John. "Is There a Microchip Implant in Your Future?" Fox News. FOX News Network, 30 Aug. 2014. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.

"ObamaCare Implant: ObamaCare Microchip RFID Myth." Obamacare Facts. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.

Vesna, Victoria. “Http://www.youtube.com/v/Ep0M2bOM9Tk.” Lecture. Medicine pt1 . Youtube, 21 Apr. 2012. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep0M2bOM9Tk>.

Vesna, Victoria. “Http://www.youtube.com/v/FIX-9mXd3Y4.” Lecture. Medicine pt3. Youtube, 22 Apr. 2012. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIX-9mXd3Y4>.

Vesna, Victoria. “Http://www.youtube.com/v/psjnQarHOqQ.” Lecture. Medicine pt2 . Youtube, 21 Apr. 2012. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psjnQarHOqQ>.

Robotics + Art

The presence of robotics in art and culture has been something that I have known for my whole life. Many movies I have seen have the presences of some sort of robotic AI. The movie iRobot for example has robotics playing a large role in the plot of the movie and introduces the three laws of robots, such as a robot cannot harm a human being. (I, Robot)

I, Robot. (Twentieth Century Fox)

Humanoid robotics continues to fascinate popular culture and the scientific community. With the introduction of this robotics comes the concept of artificial intelligence, such as Siri, the automated Apple iPhone assistant. The fear becoming that AI will lead to the elimination of the human race. In fact renowned physicist Stephen Hawking just recently released a statement claiming that if artificial intelligence reaches full capability, the end of human existence would be all but certain (BBC America).

Siri (Apple)

We have also seen artificial intelligence and robotics romanticized in movies such as Big Hero 6, where the lead character fights crime with a robot built by his brother, who also helps the young boy work though the loss of his brother. (Big Hero Six, Disney) In this case the robot is seen as being a good character, however the opposite can also be true in popular films. In 1984, the movie The Terminator came out staring Arnold Schwarzenegger, who himself was a robot and had to fight the evil T-800 (pictured below). In these movie series the main character has to both rely on and fight robots, which provides a juxtaposition of what robots could be both on the good side and on the evil side. (Terminator).

 

Terminator (Artisan)

Compiling all of this information about robotics and AI in the cultural space, it is obvious that human fear of what robots can be is perpetuated in both movies and in books. As robotics and artificial intelligence start to become more advance we may see a rise in the dramatization of evil robots in popular culture. (HowStuffWorks)

References:

I, Robot. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. :, 2004. Film.

Cellen-Jones, Rory. "Hawking: AI Could End Human Race." BBC News. Web. 20 Apr. 2015. <http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-30290540>.

Big Hero 6. Disney, 2014. Film.

The Terminator. Artisan, 1984. Film.

Kiger, Patrick. "Evil Robots in Popular Culture." HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks.com. Web. 20 Apr. 2015. <http://science.howstuffworks.com/10-evil-robots.htm>.

Math + Art

The combination of math and art has always been in my mind symbiotic. Without art, most of math would have never been able to be conceptualized. The fourth dimension was first developed and interpreted through art and cubism (Leonardo, 205). Later the concept of geometry could not have been communicated if it weren't for the help of artists of the time (Abbot, 4). These are all interesting concepts considering the implications of these concepts and further cementing the symbiosis of the two fields.

Triangles within triangles (Johnson)

In art today the presence of math is equally present. 

Abstract Math Art (http://copb-phoenix.deviantart.com/art/Abstract-Math-Modulo-251300033)

The above image is actually mathematically derived. Often times people don't think that math can inspire art or even art can inspire math. Additionally people may also say that math isn't beautiful. In this image it's clear to see that math can be beautiful. The perspective provided displays a converging point similar to what was discussed in the lecture. What I found interesting was the derivation of art from the human body. 

Leonardo DaVinci's Virturvian Man

In my mind the juxtaposition of Math, Science and Art lies in the fact that Math and Science is mostly used as a means to define things verbally and numerically while art attempts to show these concepts. This ranges from the human body to triangles, waves to circles.

References:

http://copb-phoenix.deviantart.com/art/Abstract-Math-Modulo-251300033

http://www.tpnn.com/2015/03/17/puzzle-solution/

Divinci, Leonardo Virturvian Man

Abbot, Edwin. "Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions." (1884): 1-69. Web.

Sigurdsson, Skuli. "Book Review:The Fourth Dimension and Non-Euclidean Geometry in Modern Art Linda Dalrymple Henderson." Isis 80.4 (1989): 737. Web.

Week 1: Society of Two Cultures

As a Mechanical Engineering student it was important for me to understand the humanity side of both our campus as well as our society as a whole. This conversation of "two cultures" is something that has been discussed in several of my classes before taking this course and it will be interesting to continue this discussion. In my engineering ethics class we briefly analyzed the societal divide between "technical" and "non-technical" professionals. Issues that come with this include non-technical politicians having to make technical decisions and often times getting them wrong (See figure below). This has caused many issues and will continue to cause problems in the political sphere as long as there is this divide.

Evidence of the society of two cultures (top members of the Obama administration. 

This is also prevalent in our own campus. At UCLA there is a rivalry between the North Campus (Arts and humanities) and South Campus (Science and Engineering). This transcends all aspects of our lives on campus, south campus thinking north campus students take easy classes and the north campus students thinking south campus are all nerds. In addition the competition between sides of the same campus extends into the graduate life.

UCLA fund donation graph

The UCLA fund pinned north campus and south campus against each other in a recent donation campaign, furthering the divide. This impacts me directly as a scientist there is many negative connotation that comes with it, including images like the one below.

A Mad Scientist

People consider scientists and engineers to be cold and calculating, boring and dorky. Which for the most part isn't the case. As the former social chair of my fraternity I would say that I have not all that dorky, nor am I boring. However, as someone currently looking for a job having the engineering degree benefits me substantially. I am more than willing to take this for my advantage in the hopes of getting into the workforce.

References

Snow, C. P. “Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution.” Reading. 1959. New York: Cambridge UP, 1961. Print.

Weltman, Gershan. Engineering 183EW, Introductory Lecture. 

"UCLA Fund - And the Winner of the North vs. South Campus Challenge Is....ALL Bruins!" UCLA Fund - And the Winner of the North vs. South Campus Challenge Is....ALL Bruins! N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2015. <http://www.theuclafund.ucla.edu/news/nvschallengewinner.aspx>.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_scientist