Here is the link to my final paper: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hq6W-VWLRawMWl9uxRBLJnPj-ti_iXlm/view?usp=sharing

Summary: 

I really enjoyed attending the Design Media Arts FMA final exhibition this week! It was really amazing seeing all of the artists' creations, and it was apparent how hard they had worked (creating video games, writing down family history in a book... their work was extraordinary!). I loved listening to the artists describing their journeys and reasons for creating the work that they had. Here are some pictures from the exhibition:

This past week's visit to the planetarium with Santiago Torres was incredible! I have actually been to the planetarium once before; I attended one of their weekly shows on Wednesday nights last year where an astronomy graduate student walked us through the sky that night, pointed out constellations, and told us some really interesting history and legends behind what we were looking at.

Here is a photo I took while we were there (this is what the sky looks like with all of LA's pollution):

I really enjoyed Cristina Albu's lecture last week on art related to neural networks and their behavior. As a communication major, I was particularly interested on her discussion of Richard Lowenberg's 1976 work The Secret Life of Plants. I decided to look into this work further, and the rest of Lowenberg's work on interspecies communication. (I had actually touched upon this topic briefly in a previous blog post, so I was pretty excited she talked about this and I can write a post about it!)

Here is the link to my proposal!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/18zgUbDxSrs4F4dNzsVxwrqWitB0POuhg/view?usp=sharing

Marta de Menezes's lecture was very interesting, and got me thinking about my own research in genetics. I am a research assistant at a lab under the Department of Human Genetics, and I am working on a project studying sex differences in mitochondrial function in mouse skeletal muscle. We are curious to see whether any sex differences observed are due to the genes on the chromosomes themselves, due to hormones, or a combination of both.

This week in class we covered the history of plastic. The TED-Ed video we watched was very informational; who would have thought searching for alternatives for billiard balls would lead to the creation of the first plastic! I was very shocked, however, at just how negative of an impact our use of plastics has on the environment, and even us humans. Something new I learned from lecture was that trees are not the primary producers of oxygen on this planet; plankton actually produce the majority!

This week's lecture was so interesting! I personally love mushrooms, but had never thought about them being more than just a nice addition to a meal.

Hi everyone! My name is Anvi, and I'm a 4th year double majoring in Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology and Communication. I'm originally from Milpitas, CA (a small town up in the Bay Area), and I'm graduating this June! I am also pre-med, and will be applying to medical schools this upcoming cycle.

This is my first time taking a class exploring art. I personally have never considered myself an artist (so this is definitely out of my comfort zone) but I'm really excited to explore the intersection of art and science!