New Years in August?

For English 490 (Advanced Technical and Business Writing) I am being required to keep a blog essentially as a personal sounding board and as a means of turning certain things in, as I understand it. So rather than make a new account, I decided to hijack an old one I had to keep for History 323 (History of Technology in America). I suppose I'm going to leave the old posts archived, in case anyone wants to read them, but essentially they have nothing to do with the course, save for the fact that it was because of the same sort of interests that I found myself in that class as for this one. As for this course, I expect it to challenge the skills I currently have. I also expect it to be worthwhile, both in what I learn and in potentially having a document to show an employer what I am capable of.

In another course I am taking this semester, I've been tasked with devising a teaching aid that can articulate the differences and similarities between the US military space program and NASA, as it seems that students have been using the two somewhat interchangeably in essays when in fact, they are very much not interchangeable. Added to the mix is private entrepaneurs. She wants something visually interesting that can articulate all the ways in which these three distinct groups relate or differ from one another. She had mentioned a matrix, and I think that would work well for at least showing relationships between the two, but I'm struggling with coming up with something that can articulate all the unique qualities of each group as well. I am hoping that perhaps I can create a similar document in this course, or at the least, learn a few things that will help me create such a document.

Conclusion

As I've been struggling to find one last interesting topic to write about, I've decided to finish this assignment off with a reflection, instead. As far as assignments go, I can think of far worse ones. I might even go so far as to say that it has been kind of enjoyable. The one thing that really dissapointed me however, was the lack of discussion that took place. I suppose I really shouldn't have expected much in the first place, but it certainly would have made this more enjoyable to do.
Looking back, I'm not certain that I've done much that was really directly to the material, and perhaps it would have been better to do more along those lines. Of course, looking at some of the other weblogs, I see that I'm not entirely alone in choosing a great deal of semi-off topic topics. I also didn't get to write about several of the topics I had originally wanted to do. A month or two ago, there was an article in a paper from home about chimeric experimentation (mixing the genetic material of two different species) that I had wanted to look at. I also had an article from Air & Space magazine that examined the Challenger accident and took a tour of the process of manufacturing the SRBs. I had planned on hosting the article on my server space here, so that people could read it, but I had some trouble in getting it scanned.

Induced Hibernation

It seems that an interesting and useful new medical technology is in the works...
This article from CNN's site will give you the details. In short, small amounts of Hydrogen Sulfide gas can be used to tremendously lower the metabolism of lab mice, something on the order of 90%.
This reduction results in inducing hypothermia (a technique already being used in some operations today) and by greatly lowering oxygen/energy requirements of the subject. Merely supplying fresh air is enough to bring the subject back to normal metabolism. The principal application being looked at currently would be allowing people who are recieving organ transplants to survive waiting for a longer period of time. It would also seem that one of the staples of sci-fi, induced hybernation, is drawing a bit closer to becoming a reality.

Futurists

While watching the video in class, I noticed that several of the guest speakers were given the title "Futurist". I had remembered reading something about Futurism in another class, but my memory was a little bit fuzzy, so I did a little bit of digging on the internet. Seems that Futurism was an artistic movement that originated in Italy, and was a denunciation of Romanticism. The movement also had very strong Facist overtones. Some of the ideas proposed in the stuff I remember reading does seem very bold and creative, but very... unsettling at the same time. Take these two quotes as examples of the more disturbing thoughts. Points 9 and 10 from the original futurist manifesto...

"We will glorify war—the world’s only hygiene—militarism, patriotism, the destructive gesture of freedom-bringers, beautiful ideas worth dying for, and scorn for woman."

"We will destroy the museums, libraries, academies of every kind, will fight moralism, feminism, every opportunistic or utilitarian cowardice."

Personally, I'm not sure where to begin to respond to something like this... As a history student, I feel more than mildly insulted. As someone who believes in the idea of a moral way of doing things, I feel further insulted. It only goes on from there.

And the authors very well knew what sort of impact that this manifesto would have on readers...

"You have objections?—Enough! Enough! We know them... We’ve understood!... Our fine deceitful intelligence tells us that we are the revival and extension of our ancestors—Perhaps!... If only it were so!—But who cares? We don’t want to understand!... Woe to anyone who says those infamous words to us again!"


I've included some links for your reading enjoyment. There seem to be a few popups associated with the last two, but nothing really malicious.
Futurism Manifestos
FLUXEUROPA: FUTURISM
Mark Harden's Artchive: "Futurism"

Something to fan the flames...

I was doing a bit of research, when I happened upon this...
I took a screen cap because I thought it was interesting to note that there are others who draw a distinction between science and technology... I'm not going to make an argument either way at this point, I'm just putting that tidbit out there for others to discuss.