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