HRS177|Spring2018

Week 8: A Book of Plastic

First off -- I want to express how much I wish I could have made it to the HOX Zodiac exhibit this past weekend! Personally, this was one of the most interesting and intriguing art+science projects for me this entire quarter because it combined so many fields that I am extremely interested in: from astrology and horoscopes, to neuroscience, biology, and health, it seems like the "total package" and I wish I could have seen it and participated in the exhibit first hand!

Week 8: WALL-E, Biodegradable Bullets, and Ideas for Our Book

In this week’s class, we were able to hear most of my classmate’s remaining midterm presentations. Although most of the presentations were about plastics, (a theme that has already been addressed by several members of the class), I really enjoyed how this week’s presentations touched on aspects of plastic waste we hadn’t previously discussed. Some of my favorite presentations were the ones that brought up bioplastic bullets and H.A.

Week 8: Our Plastic Book

Biotechnology and Art, class of Spring 2018. Collectively, Dr. Vesna and the class decided to take on the challenge of putting together a textbook on plastics. This book will be published and used as material to teach high school students in the SciArt Nanolab program during the summer. It will also be made available for purchase and the cost of printing, to promote awareness and education of the general public about the subject

Week 8: HOX ZODIAC and trash burning

I attended the HOX ZODIAC last night with my girlfriend. I served rabbit, ox, snake, dragon, and rat. It was an excellent evening. Many of the patrions were very excited to know what sign the food was representitive of and constatly looking out for their sign. My girlfriend was also a volunteered and helped Victoria’s daughter in assembling the plates and drinks. It was a really nice time with a variety of attendies. It was an excellent Saturday night for a long weekend. 

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

It's beautiful to see how everyone digests the same class material, so differently. From the same lectures and content exposure, the diversity of project proposals and ideas is impressive. We begin with a presentation by Aika on how microfibers in our clothes may be more of a concern that plastic bags. She proposed two fantastic ideas of enzyme-eating microfibers and a laundry machine catcher to prevent these microfibers from accumulating in our oceans.

Plastic book

In class, Professor Vesna asked us to blog about which areas should be included in the book when discussing the impact of plastic. We were told to think about examples that were already addressed in class and to also think about areas that had not been addressed yet.

3D Cycle

Listening to the first week of midterm presentations was extremely helpful in formulating ideas and topics to discuss for the weekly blog post. What provoked an interesting thought in my head was during the last presentation when my classmate proposed the question of how much our cultures contributed to plastic waste. I had never thought of this before and wondered how my culture contributed to this type of pollution.

Week 7: Plastics, BPA, BPS, and Amazon

Last Thursday’s class was an engaging continuation to Week 6. Each midterm presentation was very informative and did a great job connecting classroom topics with innovative ideas. It is great to see how many science-minded individuals have a strong passion for the arts and they are able to convey it through this class. Moreover, it was great to finally meet Dr. Siddarth Ramakrishan.

Week 7: Reusing Coffee Grounds & Plastic Wastes

I was so excited to hear from fellow students about what they researched and their proposals. Especially I liked Ankita's idea about reusing coffee grounds generated by coffee shops to coffee cups, implementing coffee cut disposal bins, and recycling them as fertilizers for new crops. I liked her idea of remaking cups from coffee grounds at where the waste is originally produced. Also, I really like how her proposal was extended towards how it should be disposed and reused in different but practical ways.

Boading Balls and BPA

Continuing to hear my peer's midterm presentations was a great experience. The Shibori Structures particularly resonated with me, as it addressed the East-West medicine connection. I have never heard of isatis tinctoria, or woad. I find it astounding that it has been shown to stop cancer cells from multiplying, and it has yet to make news or receive recognition. It makes me wonder if the reason why for the lack of acknowledgement is due to its association with East Medicine instead of West.

Hyperactivity, Colors, and Smell

This past week, Dr. Ramakrishnan guest lectured in class about the effects of BPA on fish, and his other research projects. I found Dr. Ramakrishnan’s lecture extremely interesting and thought-provoking, especially considering that the effects of BPA on fish could connect to the effects of BPA on humans. For example, Dr. Ramakrishnan noted that the BPA treated fished were often hyper-active compared to those fish not treated with BPA; could the excessive use of plastics be linked to the “ADHD epidemic” in the United States?

Thoughts on TCM

On last Thursday, many of our classmates presented their fascinating ideas and proposals to us. One topic that I found the most interesting is the artistic work of indigo dyeing on traditional Chinese medicine. TCM, an abbreviation for traditional medicine, is a style of medicine that involves herbal medicine, massage, and acupuncture. It has existed and been widely used in China for more than 2000 years. Traditional Chinese medicine has become the orthodox system of medicine before the introduction of Western medicine into China.

Week 7: Alternative Medicine and Art

Last week's class was extremely eye-opening because it allowed us the opportunity to learn a great deal about a wide variety of different topics, many of which I never would have thought about in an artistic context before! I particularly enjoyed listening to my classmates' midterm projects, which all took uniquely original takes on a variety of incredibly intriguing topics. Aanavi's presentation was especially interesting for me because of its focus on Eastern medicine and homeopathy.

Research + Fish + BPA

This week, I was super excited to see the presentations students prepared as their midterm assignments. One of the first things I noticed was the overwhelming variety of ideas and projects. One of my favourite was the project that proposed using commonly discarded coffee grounds to make plates and cups. I think that this type of innovative and environmentally minded thinking is our best bet at solving global warming and habitat destruction.

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