Craziest Green Technologies

I found this really interesting website about the strangest green technologies that have been invented in the last few years. There are examples of solar powered cell phones and other really weird devices. If you're interested the article can be found at this link.

BU's Environmental Grade Deflation

The Sustainable Endowments Institute puts out a report every year grading major universities on their commitment to environmental sustainability initiatives. For 2008, BU received a C, which is actually an entire letter grade above last year (we are among the biggest improvers over last year's report). We're actually among the leading universities in the Food & Recycling category, but fall short in most of the others - especially in endowment transparency (grade: F). In case you're wondering, overall grades for Northeastern - B, MIT - B+, and Harvard - A-, putting them at the top of the class, naturally. But at least we only tied with BC. Here are links to BU's report card and the entire report.

I admit it. I'm a Trekkie so this invention is SUPER exciting.

Real Trekkie Tricorder Invented

By Charles Q. Choi, Special to LiveScience

posted: 30 April 2008 ET

A "Star Trek" tricorder, left, and at right an image from a medical scanner of a simulated breast tumor displayed on a cell phone screen. Medical scanners plugged into cell phones could help detect cancer and other disorders. Credit for scanner image: Boris Rubinsky et al.

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A "Star Trek" tricorder, left, and at right an image from a medical scanner of a simulated breast tumor displayed on a cell phone screen. Medical scanners plugged into cell phones could help detect cancer and other disorders. Credit for scanner image: Boris Rubinsky et al.

New handheld medical scanners coupled with regular cell phones resemble "Star Trek" tricorders and could see what ails you with a push of a button.

The invention, using off-the-shelf cell phone technology, would allow medical scanners could boldly go where none have gone before — to the aid of the roughly three-quarters of the world's population currently without access to ultrasounds, X-rays and other imagers used for everything from detecting tumors to monitoring fetuses.

In addition to offering medical scans in developing nations, the devices "could find their way in ambulances, or rural clinics," said Boris Rubinsky, a professor of bioengineering at the University of California, Berkeley.

Medical imagers are typically bulky combinations of scanners, processors and video monitors. Rubinsky and his colleagues instead physically separated these components, so the most complicated elements of imagers — the powerful computer processors — can reside at a remote central location.

The researchers next devised a simple portable scanner that could plug into a cell phone. The phones transmit the raw scanning data to the processors, which create images to relay back for viewing on the cell phone screen.

Cheaper approach

The surprisingly simple setup is described in the April 30 issue of the journal PLoS ONE.

The scheme would significantly lower the cost of medical imaging because one processor facility could serve multiple imagers.

"You could be out in the middle of a remote village and still have cell phone access," said researcher Antoni Ivorra, also at Berkeley.

The portable scanner was hooked up to a cell phone with a USB cable and tested on a gel-filled container that simulated breast tissue afflicted with a tumor. Diseased tissue conducts electricity differently than healthy tissue does. The image that was sent back had the simulated tumor clearly visible onscreen.

Simple and flexible

These devices could work with any cell phone that can send and receive pictures or audio and video clips.

"The size of the data in the study was only six kilobytes, which is ridiculously small," explained researcher Yair Granot at Berkeley. "A one sentence, text-only e-mail message is bigger than that."

Rubinsky noted that "people are able to watch full movies on their iPods" so cell phone screen sizes should not be a major impediment.

In the future, ultrasound scanners could also couple with cell phones. Just the ultrasound scanner "might cost about $1,000, while a whole ultrasound machine with all the other components might be about $70,000," Rubinsky told LiveScience. "We could take medical imaging and possibly benefit the entire world."

Simply donating existing medical scanners to the world's poorest regions is not a viable, long-term solution, Rubinsky said.

"More than half of the medical equipment in developing countries is left unused or broken because it is too complicated or expensive to operate and repair," he explained. "We set out to develop something that locals could sustain on their own, as well as something that is relevant to local economies and technologies."

Broad implications

These portable scanners "could open up whole new avenues of health care for the developing world," Rubinsky said. "Health professionals in rural clinics could affordably get the tools they need to properly diagnose and treat their patients."

Although diagnosis and treatment of roughly one-fifth of all diseases can benefit from medical imaging, "this advancement has been out of reach for millions of people in the world because the equipment is too costly to maintain," Rubinsky said. "Our system would make imaging technology inexpensive and accessible for these underserved populations."

The scanners could have broad applications in the developed world, too, he said.

"Health professionals in rural clinics could affordably get the tools they need to properly diagnose and treat their patients," Rubinsky said. "If you had a car accident, you could put a cap on the hat of the victim in the ambulance, and before the ambulance even gets to the hospital, all the information can go through the cell phone, maybe to spot if that person has internal bleeding in their head."

http://www.livescience.com/technology/080430-cell-phone-medical.html

Hybrid Myths and Theories

Hi all here is an article I found criticizing many of the supposed theories about hybrid and energy efficient cars. It doesn't necessarily claim that every fact you have heard is wrong, it simply puts into perspective what many of the numbers are behind the supposed efficient cars. Of course there are responses posted below by readers many of whom have hybrids themselves and they seem to think very highly of them. Thought it was an interesting article that had lots of information I didn't know as well as a contrasting point of view.
http://www.thedailygreen.com/living-green/blogs/cars-transportation/clean-car-myths-46011308

Some concerns about biofuel technology

Here is an article that I found about some criticisms on biofuel technology (and some possible concerns about the long term effects of bio fuel technology if it was implemented in the future): http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/03/11/BAGDBOJ7U81.DTL
The article touches upon both the pros and cons of such a technology, and questions whether or not biofuel technology can end up being an enivornmental detriment (instead of being an environmentally friendly alternative to fossil fuels).

Pros and Cons of Genetically Engineered Foods

Here's an article from Science Magazine about genetically engineered rice: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/320/5875/468. The article discusses the shortfalls of this technology, which inventors hoped would help solve problems caused by vitamin A deficiency. Genetically engineered foods have been the subject of a lot of social controversy, and this has hampered their acceptance into the mainstream food industry.

California's going Solar

Southern California has been notorious in recent years for having large scale power outages during the hot summer months. In order to increase the state's power supply and decrease its output of pollutants, the state has developed a plan with 2 major companies to install 2 of the largest solar fields in the world (Link). At the completion of these two projects, the state of California will have increased its energy used from renewable resources to 20%.

Also, FedEx has teamed up with British Petroleum (Believe it or not) to install solar panels on the roofs of its California facilities (Link). The facility in Oakland generates 80% of its total consumed electricity from its rooftop solar panels. If more businesses follow the steps taken by FedEx, then the burning of fossil fuels and other non-renewable resources that pollute the Earth will be diminished.

Red Necks Turn to Green

This is an article I found on Sports Illustrated dot com. Its interesting to see how this industry is trying to reduce its carbon footprint. The whole sport really does put out quite a lot of pollution so its nice to see them try to improve the global situation.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/brant_james/04/23/nascar.green/index.html

Has U.S. Science Lost Its Competitive Edge?

Interesting article from sciencenow.org discussing how American science initiatives are greatly lagging behind compared to other areas of the world. Speakers at a symposium in Washington yesterday discussed ways in which U.S. science programs could catch up, covering everything from increased funding to better training for math and science teachers across the country.

Sally Ride, the first U.S. woman astronaut, spoke at the symposium, arguing, "I feel that we're like Wile E. Coyote, chasing the roadrunner off the cliff and then looking around and realizing that there's no foundation under our feet." Most comments at the event were in response to the powerful 2005 report Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future.

Eco-TV

Early this year, Philips Company, known for its motto "Simplicity in Healthcare, Lighting, and Consumer Lifestyle," released the Eco TV, an environmentally friendly television. Quirky as it may sound, the TV actually conserves energy while in standby mode, while most televisions consume excess amounts of energy. In addition, it has a back light that adjusts to "both the ambient light in the room and the content on the screen," according to the New York Times article where I found this information (scroll down to Eco TV). There is also a power-consumption monitor showing the owner how much the 42-inch LCD set is consuming . (That's right people, it's a really nice TV too!)

Here is a video of an interview of someone from Philips explaining how it works.


Here is a video of the TV winning an award from the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Association meeting in Las Vegas from January 7-10.


Enjoy! Doesn't this make you want a really nice quality, environmentally friendly TV?
Yeah...me too.

The Lorax

And I know I was overeager already, but, just for fun, I thought I'd include a 1972 TV animation of Dr. Seuss' The Lorax. I remembered this from AP Enviro ... 4 years later ... (yeah, I'm a loser). There's also an awesome version of The Sneetches that was made for the same program [part one and part two - new window] (one of my other favorites of Dr. Seuss besides Fox in Socks - forgive me, I worked at a camp for 4-6 years last summer so these are all fresh in my memory).

To go along with the green car technology, apparently a leading economist (Jeff Rubin of CIBC) has predicted that in four years, the price of gas will increase to an average of $7/gallon [new window]. For a video of him speaking about oil prices, the economics behind it, and the possible direction everyday transportation make turn to, you can also check out a video of him speaking on CNBC - although, if you do watch it, I warn you he speaks about America turning to Canadian fuel a lot ... because CIBC stands for "Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce". No coincidence there.

Speaking of green car technology, Treehugger.com also points out the death of a new Turbo-Diesel Hybrid engineered by Volkswagon - the company cited the high cost of production as a reason not to pursue this particular design (which, according to the article, reached 70 mi/gallon) - but they plan to scale back the design to something more... economical (something they make more profits from, in other words).

Also, just to continue my geekdom and overzealous post, the following is a Popular Mechanics review of the Aptera, an electric car that gets 120 mi/charge (and have, as they mention, a plan for a hybrid that will get 300 mi/gallon). It claims to be designed aerodynamically, but I'm definitely seeing a 2001: A Space Odyssey -esque design. Still - a lot prettier than the vague recollection I have of a horrendous yellow electric car my uncle owned in the 80s/early 90s.

Synthetic Fuels Corp with link

Sorry I didn't post the link properly: Glen Beck: U.S is Suicidal Superpower

Synthetic Fuels Corp

Glenn Beck is a pompous blow-hard and I don't usually agree with him. He brings up an interesting solution though about synthetic fuels. http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/24/beck.oil.prices/

video trailer for Earth: The Sequel

Today I will hand out a brief section of Earth: The Sequel, a new book by Environmental Defense Fund founder Fred Krupp.

Krupp argues that innovations in clean energy represent an economic opportunity vastly greater than the revolution in personal computers and the Internet. His book explores recent innovations in genetically engineered biofuels, solar, wind, geothermal, and other new technologies.

For more about the confluence of new technologies and environmentalism, check out Break Through by Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger.

Neuromancer

So, it looks as though Neuromancer is about to become a movie. There's not much information about it right now, but according to IMDB, it stars Hayden Christiansen and is due out in 2009. Here's the link to the website.

I realized I forgot to put up some electronic references when I changed my paper topic. Sorry for the delay, but here they are.

This is the scene from Jurassic Park in which they debate on the ethics of the technology developed in the park. Jeff Goldblum and Laura Dern's characters are both fearful that man has gone to far and that the scientists are playing with things they do not fully understand.

This is an excerpt from George W. Bush's state of the union address in 2008. Bush argued against the use of embryonic stem cells for personal ethical reasons. He asked Congress not to pass any laws which allowed for the "unethical use of stem cells", including the cloning of human lfe, which many people see as the next step in the evolution of biotechnology.




Here is a link to an article published in Scientific American in March of 1997 in response to the cloning of Dolly the sheep. The author illustrates the infinite promise Dolly held for the scientific community, as well as the infinite controversy.

A Clone in Sheep's Cloning

"Steak without Cow": PETA to offer prize for "in-vitro" meat production

Biotech meats Animal Rights. Here is the story, and comment, from the TheAtlantic.com

Trailer for Twelve Monkeys (1995)

NY Times in 2005: "Celera to Quit Selling Genome Information"

Here is the post-script to J. Craig Venter's competition with the Human Genome Project.

speaking of eugenics...

Here is the website for The Genius Factory by David Plotz.

Tron, RoboCop, Ghostbusters: Sweded

Just for fun, to go back to the opening scene we watched of TRON [new window], I thought I'd share a cardboard remake of it.

It was made in homage to Be Kind Rewind, starring Jack Black and Mos Def, which is entirely about movies being remade on a budget - ie, 'sweding' them. Anyway, it's pretty awesome. Also, the movie includes a sweded RoboCop. [see below]

 I also decided to include the sweded version of Ghostbusters, originally in the movie, for good fun. And because it features cutting-edge technology of a marshmallow man rampaging through New York in the vein of Godzilla. 

TRON:

ROBOCOP:

GHOSTBUSTERS:

Haymarket Affair

The Haymarket Affair was an event that captured the nation's attention in the final years of the 1880's. The following is an example of the kind of bomb which was thrown at the police unit attempting to break up the demonstration at Haymarket Square on the night of May 4th, 1886 in Chicago. The bomb wounded sixty officers and killed one, Mathias Degan.

In the trial that followed, eight men connected with anarchist and labor advocacy publications were tried and convicted as accessories to the murder of Degan. Their conviction largely hinged on evidence that they were the ideological heads of a general conspiracy to overthrow the existing social order. The only man of American birth among the convicted was Albert Parsons, who volunteered in the Confederate Army during the Civil War and was connected to the mainstream labor advocacy union the Knights of Labor. Here is a picture of his wife, Lucy Parsons a woman of Native American, Mexican and Black ancestry who understandably petitioned strongly for her husband's pardon.

While there would be no pardon for Parsons, in 1893, the liberal Governor of Illinois, John Altgeld, did pardon three of the original eight defendants implicated in the Haymarket Affair. The following cartoon depicts one opinion that Altgeld had put the social order in harm's way by granting clemency to the anarchists.

Going back two classes ago...

Here is the ad I mentioned about Apple computers. It is called "Lemmings" because every year creatures called lemmings commit a mass suicide by jumping off a cliff, following the first leader. No one understands why these colonies do so. Perhaps it is just "business as usual."

Paper Extension and Quiz

I have decided to extend the due date for the Historical Methods Paper to Tuesday, April 22nd. I will return papers to students on the day of the Final Exam.

Also, I will be giving our third reading quiz on Thursday, April 24th.

Russia open monument to space dog Laika

Finally getting the monument she deserves. I found this article today:

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press Writer Fri Apr 11, 1:58 PM ET

MOSCOW - Russian officials on Friday unveiled a monument to Laika, a dog whose flight to space more than 50 years ago paved the way for human space missions.

The small monument is near a military research facility in Moscow that prepared Laika's flight to space on Nov. 3, 1957. It features a dog standing on top of a rocket.

Little was known about the impact of space flight on living things at the time Laika's mission was launched. Some believed they would be unable to survive the launch or the conditions of outer space, so Soviet space engineers viewed dogs' flights as a necessary precursor to human missions.

All dogs used in the Soviet space program were stray mongrel dogs — doctors believed they were able to adapt quicker to harsh conditions. All were small so they could fit into the tiny capsules.

The 2-year-old Laika was chosen for the flight just nine days before the launch.

Stories about how she was selected varied: Some said Laika was chosen for her good looks — a Soviet space pioneer had to be photogenic. Others indicated the top choice for the mission was dropped because doctors took pity on her: Since there was no way to design a re-entry vehicle in time for the launch, the flight meant a certain death.

"Laika was quiet and charming," Dr. Vladimir Yazdovsky wrote in his book chronicling the story of Soviet space medicine. He recalled that before heading to the launch pad, he took the dog home to play with his children. "I wanted to do something nice for her: She had so little time left to live," Yazdovsky said.

The satellite that carried Laika into orbit was built in less than one month after the Soviet Union put the world's first artificial satellite into orbit on Oct. 4, 1957.

Due to last-minute technical problems, Laika had to wait for the launch in the cabin for three days. Temperatures were low, and workers heated the cockpit through a hose.

When Laika reached orbit, doctors found with relief that her heartbeat, which had risen on launch, and her blood pressure were normal. She ate specially prepared food from a container.

According to official Soviet reports, the dog was euthanized after a week.

After the Soviet collapse, participants in the project told the real story: Laika indeed was to be euthanized with a programmed injection, but she apparently died of overheating after only a few hours in orbit.

Several other dogs died in failed launches before the successful space flight — and safe return to Earth — of the dogs Belka and Strelka in August 1960.

After a few other flights with dogs, the Soviet Union put the world's first human — Yuri Gagarin — into space on April 12, 1961.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080411/ap_on_re_eu/russia_space_dog

Atomic Bomb culture

Sorry, had a link wrong, had to re-post

http://www.atomicbombcinema.com/english/image_gallery/beginning/begin_end_intro.htm

Here's a link to a page about an early Film addressing Atomic issues, The Beginning or the End?

This is a great example of early Hollywood/pop culture responses to the atomic bomb.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047573/

This is the IMDB page from another classic atomic-era Hollywood film, Them!. This movie is about radioactive ants destroying the country. Reflects fears of radiation at the time.

Pictures of the movie cover are especially awesome.

http://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/spinthariscopes/ring.htm

Here is a site about 'atomc bomb rings' for kids found in Kix cereal in the 40's. Shows how Americans tried to incorporate the bomb into everyday culture. Also would probably be a pretty sweet cereal box prize.

American Environmental Movement

The following link is a time line of some of the major events of the environmental movement in the United States... Time Line

This is a National Geographic article from 2002 marking the 40th anniversary of Rachel Carson's book "Silent Spring" which is considered to be the starting point of the modern environmental movement.

The following is a video focusing on Gallup Poles that show the views of Americans towards the environmental movement as well as how much individual Americans are doing to help the environment.

Perspectives on Technology

My paper investigates different social perspectives in regards to technological progress. To some, technology proved fascinating enough to spawn a speculative fiction genre. This blog keeps up to date with speculative fiction and includes an archive of older works: http://specfic.blogspot.com/

Others fostered concerns about the course of technological progress. During the development of nuclear power, supporters of atomic energy attempted to quell fears through propaganda films: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbB2EMOTunk

Technology has developed to a point where it simply can no longer be rationally avoided or feared. Here are Time magazine's picks for essential 20th century innovations: http://www.time.com/time/time100/builder/tech_supp/tech_supp.html

One World: First Live Global TV Broadcast

On June 25th, 1967 the BBC broadcast the first live global television program, featuring an in-studio performance by the Beatles. The song performed here was written specifically for this event.

Nuclear Ethics

To tie in politics (and believe me, I'm not attempting to do an endorsement) with the nuclear arms race and the potential threat to human life, John McCain announced that he would work on disarmament if elected [new window]. 

Despite what some say about the man (especially in the wake of Toy Story), Randy Newman's "Political Science" manages to amuse me in that it's tongue in cheek about Nuclear ethics. Here's a video via youtube with the song set over some lovely images [new window]

And... just because it's a classic, as an added bonus, "End of the World" [explicit]:

Consumerism and Identity

In my paper I will be exploring the connections between advertising and identity and comparing the real world example to Huxley's portrayal of identity in Brave New World.  One of my secondary sources, The Conquest of Cool, describes different advertising campaigns from the 1960s and the ways these ads subverted convention. 

Thomas Frank, the author, goes into great detail about the revolutionary advertising campaign for Volkswagen.  DDB, Volkswagen's advertising firm employed a minimalist strategy which drew attention to the differences between a Volkswagen and the standard Detroit model of the 1950s and 60s.  This particular ad shows the contrast between the consistent model years for Volkswagen and the ever changing models from the other major car companies.

Pepsi Cola also used an unorthodox technique to seek out new consumers.  Interestingly, their advertising campaign of the early 1960s presupposed the youth revolt which occurred later in the decade, causing some to question the influence of advertising upon the actions taken by the young people.  This ad is one of the first to use the "Pepsi Generation" slogan and "Come Alive" theme song.

Social Darwinism and Morality

For my paper, I am writing about the different reactions to the ideas of social Darwinism, especially in the area of morals and religion. I am focusing on Caesar's column, as well as two non-fiction works on the topic by Robert Bannister and Richard Hofstadter.

This first article argues that the effects of social Darwinism are largely overstated by historians such as Hofstadter, and that Christian morality and economics made more of an impact on business life than social Darwinism. The article also mentions the anarchist Kropotkin, who we discussed briefly in class.

This second article discusses the social Darwinist tendencies of one of Donnelly's more widely-known contemporaries - Mark Twain. While many of Twain's early works have an optimistic tone, many of his later works take on a more pessimistic undertone emphasizing competition and struggle.

This cartoon clip shows Felix the Cat attempting to find a link between man and monkeys. Although created in 1920, after social Darwinism's popularity had largely faded and evolution was becoming more widely accepted, the cartoon still mocks the idea that man could descend from apes, while also emphasizing the role of struggle among the animal kingdom. In the clip, human society is placed upon the monkeys, reversing social Darwinism's attempt to apply animal practices to human society. In the end, it is the monkey who refuses to accept that he could possibly be related to man, rather than the other way around.

For my paper, I am writing about the different reactions to the ideas of social Darwinism, especially in the area of morals and religion. I am focusing on Caesar's column, as well as two non-fiction works on the topic by Robert Bannister and Richard Hofstadter.

This first article argues that the effects of social Darwinism are largely overstated by historians such as Hofstadter, and that Christian morality and economics made more of an impact on business life than social Darwinism. The article also mentions the anarchist Kropotkin, who we discussed briefly in class.

This second article discusses the social Darwinist tendencies of one of Donnelly's more widely-known contemporaries - Mark Twain. While many of Twain's early works have an optimistic tone, many of his later works take on a more pessimistic undertone emphasizing competition and struggle.

This cartoon clip shows Felix the Cat attempting to find a link between man and monkeys. Although created in 1920, after social Darwinism's popularity had largely faded and evolution was becoming more widely accepted, the cartoon still mocks the idea that man could descend from apes, while also emphasizing the role of struggle among the animal kingdom. In the clip, human society is placed upon the monkeys, reversing social Darwinism's attempt to apply animal practices to human society. In the end, it is the monkey who refuses to accept that he could possibly be related to man, rather than the other way around.

Populism in late nineteenth century America

I am doing my paper on the impact of Populism in the late nineteenth century as pictured in Caesar's Column.

This link is an interesting look at the Wizard of Oz as a populist parable.

This political cartoon shows how the effects of major economic depressions on the individual laborer.

This political cartoon shows how the banking system was holding down the poor farmers, who had no choice but to revolt in response.

Technology in the modern era: Utopia or Dystopia?

So while researching information (mostly background stuff), I came across a few interesting articles related to my paper topic.

Technology Today: Utopia or Dystopia? – Technology and the Rest of Culture
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2267/is_n3_v64/ai_19952021/pg_1

Reproductive Technology: Utopia or Nemesis?
http://www.dhushara.com/paradoxhtm/reprod.htm

Korea’s High-Tech Utopia, Where Everything is Observed
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/05/technology/techspecial/05oconnell.html

All of them give an interesting insight into the effects of technology in modern culture (and the effects that future technology, if pursued vigorously, will have on society in the years to come). Most specifically the authors of each provide a view, either positive and negative, on how technology today can be either a tool or detriment to society. In particular, the last article about proposed building of Korea's High Tech Utopia is a short, but facinating read. It briefly gives an outline of all the high technology that would be implemented in this futuristic city, eerily bringing to mind a technological utopia not that far off from the one found in Ralph 12 4C 41+.

Defining Limits of Humanity

As society becomes increasingly intertwined with technology, we are forced to consider whether such technological advances are beneficial or detrimental to our culture. Aldous Huxley argues in his novel Ape and Essence that technological developments are leading to the destruction of our society, and that through these innovations, humans are denying their natural existences in favor of accomplishing greater, seemingly impossible feats. In my paper, I'll be investigating the importance of setting limits on what humans should achieve, focusing on an era in modern society in which humans seem to be able to conquer all aspects of nature, manipulating nature to serve its needs.

This link features an interview with Aldous Huxley in which he discusses the relationship between science and humanity and argues that the two need to be intrinsically linked for the survival of humankind.

This is a video discussing the nature of war in modern society and arguing for the necessity of peace.

This is a product I stumbled upon while researching reactions to the development of nuclear weapons. I found the product fascinating as it highlights the acknowledgment of the inability for humans to effectively control modern technologies.

The Consumer's Sublime

Based on the introduction of the consumer's sublime in Hugo Gernsback's Ralph124c41+, I will be exploring the consumer's sublime based on two major sources of consumerism today: Walt Disney World (and the Disney Corporation) and Las Vegas, NV. While David E. Nye condemns these for being entertainment for entertainment's sake without any other value whatsoever, I will be arguing that the consumer's sublime is not so. Rather, the two popular vacation destinations provide elements of many other forms of the technological sublime mentioned in his American Technological Sublime. Also, I will exploring these themes through Jean Beaudrillard's theory in Simulacra and Simulation.





First here is a video of Walt Disney World's Main Street, USA in the Magic Kingdom Park. It is a replication of the 1940s(ish) New Orleans, (scaled down 1/3, including all buildings), bringing consumers back to a time of nostalgia and more carefree attitude. Behind all these facades are shops galore, as seen in the last bits of the video. (Really people, watch it, Disney makes people happy :))





Here is the main excerpt I will be focusing on in Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation. Please scroll down to Hyperreal and Imagery. It talks about Disneyland and how it is trying to replicate reality, by doing so it discards the real world we live in, trying to replace it. It is very interesting (and a short read!)

http://www.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/Baudrillard/Baudrillard_Simulacra.html

Here is a video of Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, where there is the facade of the Great Roman Empire. However, all it houses are high end designer stores and replications of sculptures that once inspired awe. (Still really pretty though! Enjoy!)

Life Under the Atomic Cloud

Looking into the culture of the atomic age I came across a few very interesting websites...

Conelrad - a website dedicated to all things atomic, with links to all kinds of articles and pictures about the era.

Academic Info - A website which contains information regarding the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Also, here is a link to a video portraying the culture which surrounded the beginning of the cold war and the fears of a nuclear strike by our enemies

JYL

Apollo 8 Genesis reading

Apollo I, Challenger, and Columbia tragedies

A student asked today about casualties of the U.S. space program. This site has some excellent information on the subject.

City Life In The 1900s

In his 1890 novel Caesar’s Column, Ignatius Donnelly presents his futuristic vision of New York City set in the year 1988. Though Donnelly’s novel describes a time one hundred years into the future, it was written during a period of great change in America as achievements in technology, industrialization, and an expanding population led to the growth of the American city and provided new challenges for living and working.

http://www.archives.gov/research/american-cities/

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/skyscraperhistory.html

http://www.livingcityarchive.org/htm/framesets/decades/fs_00s.htm

War Games

I found the 'climactic' scene (it's kind of cheesy, but what can you do) from the movie War Games we mentioned in class. In the movie, Matthew Broderick's character accidentally hacks what he thinks is just an average computer but turns out to be a top secret military computer. He then accidentally begins a nuclear battle between the US and the USSR (oops). In this scene, the computer (I think his name is Joshua) learns through a serious of games of tic-tack-toe that the only way to win a nuclear war is not to play at all.

Fear of and Optimism for Technology in Early 1900's

http://www.sfcanada.ca/fall99/prophecies.htm
Details the predictions Science Fiction writers such as Gernsback made and continue to make in the present. These writers shaped their predictions using currently known scientific fact. Some were so accurate, the writers were followed by the FBI.

http://archives.cbc.ca/war_conflict/cold_war/topics/274/
This CBC Television report examines the power of nuclear weapons and one couple's view on the prospect of capitulating to the 'godless Russians.'

http://www.genealogy.com/76_life1900.html
A brief look at the attitudes of people living in the early 1900's, emerging technology, economic conditions.

The effect of weapons of mass destruction

I'll be comparing the fictional use of weapons in Caesar's Column with the reality of atomic war.

Archive.org (http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=atomic%20bomb) has a lot of great video footage of bombs being tested.

Atomic Archive.com (http://www.atomicarchive.com/index.shtml) has practically everything I ever want and need to know about atomic weapons.

Radiation Effects (http://www.atomicarchive.com/Effects/radeffects.shtml) I want to also compare the injuries of the people in the text to real life.

Technocracy

Check out two parts to a video from Technocracy Inc., an organization which centers around the idea of a social system based on technology and run by scientists. There are a ton of videos in the series, here are the two links:

Part One - http://youtube.com/watch?v=I9ps5vJrIxM
Part Two - http://youtube.com/watch?v=icPOfVeISi8&feature=related

The Technocracy website from Vancouver also gives a great glimpse into what Technocracy stands for. Here is a link to the FAQ page, a good place to start - http://www.technocracyvan.ca/faq.html

Information on the history of technocracy can be found at their main website. Here, I've linked to a page which describes the foundation's history back to 1921.
http://www.technocracy.org/origins-1.htm

A Brave New World and Technocracy

Below is a link for an article published in TIME Magazine on Dec. 26, 1932 about Howard Scott, one of the founders of the Technocracy Movement. It provides a brief summary of the objectives and methods for reform proposed by the Technocrats.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,744852-3,00.html

The following link is for the complete text of JBS Haldane's book Daedalus, or Science and the Future, which influenced Huxley's novel Brave New World. Haldane, a British geneticist and evolutionary biologist, discusses the idea of human-controlled evolution, including directed mutation and ectogenesis, in this text. 

http://www.cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/Daedalus.html

The final link is a video of Aldous Huxley discussing A Brave New World and 1984. In the video he explains how totalitarian regimes will be able to subjugate people through non-violent means in the future. 

http://youtube.com/watch?v=S7_YFKyhQMI

Tarzan of the Apes

Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote Tarzan with the sense of his own desire for wilderness and uniqueness. At the time Burroughs noticed the growing congruity among men and he wanted to make a man separate from society which represented all the traits a man should have. This is the film version of Burroughs novel and was considered quite a good film at the time.

http://www.archive.org/details/TarzanoftheApes1918AndyDivx

Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster

This is a excerpt from one of the earliest Superman comics created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. This comic shows how these two young Americans from the mid twentieth century forsee the perfect man and especially their own questions about what that term means.

http://ia341219.us.archive.org/3/items/DraftSupermanWeeklies/Superman.pdf

The First "Perfect" Man

This is a link to an original piece of work written by body builder Sandow who lived during the early twentieth century. He was one of the first body builders of his time and he was idolized for his "perfect body". He is just one example of how man and society have been searching to define the term perfect for decades. He is just one example of this idealization along with men like Houdini, Tarzan, and Superman.

http://www.openlibrary.org/details/sandowgetsphysicl00sanduoft

Alan M. Turing

Considered the most important pioneer in the field of Artificial Intelligence, Turing's 1950 article entitled Computing Machinery and Intelligence from Mind magazine is the first example of a philosophical inquiry into the possibility of designing a machine that could emulate the thinking process of humans. In addition to the article, I'm including a link to a Turing page that contains links to a lot of documents, audio, and video recordings of him and his work on A.I.

http://www.turing.org.uk/

"Expert System" Practicing Law?

A Wired.com story about an "Expert System" designed by Henry Iherjirika that received input from customers about income, debt, etc. and issued a complete set of bankruptcy filings for them. The short of it is that this system was deemed to be making too many decisions to be a tool, and instead was charged with giving legal advice without a license.

AI Cited for Unlicensed Practice of Law

Thinking Big: Robotics in the 21st Century

This is a video and transcript of an interview between WGBH's (Boston PBS) Lisa Mullins and James McLurkin, an engineer at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab discussing some of the issues, practical and theoretical, associated with A.I. development.

Video
Transcript

Atomic Compilation

This video is a compilation of atomic bomb tests.

Atomic Test Compilation - Celebrity bloopers here

The Bomb Project

The Bomb Project is a website full of information about the bomb, nuclear accidents, atomic art, etc. This is a great resource for just about any topic having to do with the a-bomb. I set the link to the popular culture page. American, British, and Japanese films and television shows are listed on the page.

Atomic Films

I am looking at atomic culture through film and literature. This site has a number of different movie posters of atomic films.

Enjoy

Blog Assignment II: Post 3 links related to your paper topic

Between now and next Thursday (April 10), find three links (to a relevant article, blog, video, etc.) that are related to your paper topic and post them on this blog. As you may rememember from our blog tutorial in January, www.archive.org is an excellent source for historical materials, including video clips.

Satellites, Cosmonauts, and Astronauts

U.S. Newsreel on Sputnik launch downplays Cold War angle and calls Sputnik "one of the great scientific feats of the age."

Here's a color video of several early Soviet launches, including Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2 (Laika's mission).

Here's a video of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin's 1961 launch.

Ten months later, NASA launches John Glenn into orbit.

This video is a 1968 educational film (brought to you by Kodak) that profiles Robert Goddard and highlights contemporary model rocket clubs. (despite its posted title, there's nothing here about John Glenn).