HRS177|Spring2018

Week 5 Blog: Bioplastics in Haute Cuisine and Fashion

During this week’s class, we learned about bioplastics and how various materials like milk, algae, corn, gelatin, and even blood have been used to make bioplastic, a type of biodegradable plastic that is less toxic than regular plastic (Cho) . My favorite part of the class was actually learning how to make bioplastic from Xin Xin.

Week 5: Bois Durci and The Homeless Vehicle

Bois Durci immediately stood out to me due to my interest in epidemiology and the idea of working with blood. This was a Victorian era technique and is no longer used. The reason it stood out to me so much is because of the delicacy in working with blood. Due to bloodborne pathogens, working with blood isn’t as simple as other mediums, there are regulations and laws that restrict how it is used. The technique itself is interesting none the less. Bois Durci is a mixture of finely ground wood and blood albumen specifically.

Week 5: Bioplastic – Created by Surrounding Biology

This week, we had Xin Xin as a guest to talk and share her experiences in bioplastics. Production of bioplastic includes soybean, chicken feather, blood, milk, algae and olive oil – the materials that are actually abundant in our surroundings. During her presentation, she introduced us milk buttons. It immediately drew my attention as milk is something that I always make sure to have in the fridge. During my additional research, I found that it was produced in 20th century by utilizing the main protein, called casein, found in milk.

Week 4: Polymer Peril

Hearing about polymers and their applicability to our everyday lives was very eye-opening from Professor James Gimzewski. As a physical science major,  I sometimes forget to think about how the science I am learning about applies to real life, practical scenarios. I thought it was interesting to discover there was a specific family that took charge and control of the polymer industry.

Week 5: Gelatin Bioplastic & Edible Straws

It was a pleasure to have Xin Xin discuss her point of view and perspective on bioplastic. We talked about different types of plastic which included fossil fuel that involves a combination of petroleum and natural gas. There are several different methods of creating bioplastic, whether it be from gelatin, potato and corn starch, as well as algae based substances, this is an exciting aspect for innovation.

Week 4: A Day in My Life Without Plastic and Midterm Proposal

As many of us go about our daily lives, we are so lost from getting from one place to another that we often do not stop and think about our actions and consumption. However, Dr. James Gimzewski’s informative talk made me take a step back and ponder about my daily consumption and usage in life. In particular, Dr.

Bioplastics + Midterm Idea

This week Dr. Ggimzewski gave us a very informative and interesting presentation on plastics. He started with the broad introduction of polymer by talking about some naturally existed polymer such as starch or rubber. Then he talked about the development of artificial polymer and how plastics were invented. I was very surprised when I knew that the invention of plastics was an accident and it wasn’t there before 1840.

Week 4 Plastic pollution

Last week, Dr. Ggimzewski gave us an impressive speech about the importance of plastic to our daily lives. Before that, I had never thought of the life without using plastic. Plastic is so common to be seen that I even neglect it. Our shopping bags, charge cable, pens, which we use every day, are all made up plastic. However, I had never thought of how people dispose the waste plastics.

How is the medical field contributing to plastic pollution?

The use of plastic has caused an immense amount of damage to our environment; however, the production of plastic is predicted to continue increasing in the next 10 years (Taylor, 2017). As Dr. James Gimzewski taught us last week, plastic is becoming an ever-increasing worry of our civilization. There have been some advancements due to plastic that have lowered the cost of certain items, like panty-house. So, when we have this argument about plastic some people may argue for the advancements.

Week 4: Plastic + Midterm Proposal

Dr. Gimzewski said his presentation last week was thrown together hastily the morning of, but as a part of the audience I found it impossible to tell if this comment held any truth. His presentation was informational, entertaining, and persuasive. Without explicitly arguing for the reduction of the use of artificial polymers such as plastic, Dr. Gimzewski both conveyed the difficulty of living completely without polymers in our life as well as the necessity of reducing our consumption of plastic.

Erasing Plastic Mistakes

Polymers are everywhere and nearly everything. Per our discussion with Dr. Gimzewski, polypeptides which make up polymers make the feathers of birds, the silk of our clothes, the hair on our heads, and so much more. It's not possible to imagine a life without polymers because we would not exist. A more plausible but challenging experiment would be to imagine a life without synthetic polymers. When I think of synthetic polymers, I imagine plastics or plastic bags in particular.

Biotechnology + Simulations

For my midterm project I am interested in using robotics and simulations to recreate familiar to us natural processes and structures such as tree growth or plants. The goal, is to illustrate the strong underlying connections between humans and the physical world surrounding us. Particularly, I want to demonstrate that the separation of the world into natural vs unnatural/man-made is only a construct that plays a detrimental role in solving the environmental crises around the globe.

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