Lesson Overview: The very last lesson of technology & world change. Today, I had the opportunity of witnessing four groups present their group website.
Interesting Ideas and Observations
Technology & The Armageddon - An interesting topic that really got me thinking. Indeed, many prophecies, namely the Mayans, have predicted that we are in the end times. The apocalypse is near. This group highlighted possible causes of the armageddon, for example the uncontrolled advancement of artificial intelligence and the rise of a pyramid hierarchy system whereby cyborgs dominate the world and humans rot at the bottom of the pyramid. Although a bit far-fetched, this is definitely a possible direction that we are heading towards, especially since artificial intelligence has been advancing by leaps and bounds. Smart computers such as Milo the virtual boy are testament to this fact.
Shababies & Medical Technologies - The future aspect that this group presented on medical technologies was quite intriguing. I especially like the idea of using mosquitoes to spread vaccines and how a mirror with augmented reality technology can scan the vital signs of your body for traces of possible diseases. A cancer patient could be able to monitor his situation in the comfort of his home through making use of highly advanced ICTs that can scan blood samples and send the information to doctors for analysis.
Technology & Art - Some fascinating ideas that i took away from this presentation was the fact that art could be very different in the future. With the use of just one stylus, artists can have access to a wide array of paintbrushes. An artist can better visualize his art pieces before actually drawing it by the use of computers with 3 dimensional view. It was also mentioned by Prof that the advance in art technology does not need to be at the expense of more traditional forms of producing art. The two are not mutually exclusive.
Women & Technology - Although this all-girl group presented a topic that would appeal more to girls, I found myself enjoying the presentation. An idea that especially drew my attention was the iphone app that could help girls keep track of their dates. Through the use of this app, a girl could store the characteristics and memories of her date for future reference. Also, why limit this app to girls? Guys should need to keep track of their dates too! With the current rise of extremely innovative iphone applications, I don't think that this technology would be too far away.
Key Takeaways
Since this is end of the entire TWC course, I thought that I would share some of the main ideas that I have learnt through the entire course.
1. Always be a change leader - During the session of global dominance, we learnt that companies, and even countries, that adopt a more open and optimistic perspective are the rising stars and dominate the market.
2. Don't rest on your laurels - I learnt that innovating is a continuous process. If Apple stopped at iphone 3, it would find that most competitors would quickly catch up by incorporating iphone features into their own phones. The trick is doing something else!
3. Assessing the impact of technology - When do we draw the line? In the very first lesson, we talked about technology making us fat and lazy people. By performing proper technological assessment, we should be able to manage the implications of the technology, hence reducing the likelihood of us going down this path! Likewise, other negative implications such as environmental degradation and ethical issues should be closely monitored.
4. Impossible is nothing - We should definitely adopt this mindset as we search for new alternative solutions for present problems. I have learnt from TWC to stop constraining my ideas to certain norms, but to always venture 'out-of-the-box' and look for something completely new and outrageous!
Personal Ratings (for the course): 9.5/10. I really enjoyed taking this course in semester 1. It has provided me with many new ideas and insights. I will definitely miss the intriguing and though-provoking discussions that we had during class. As Prof mentioned, the journey does not end here, and I hope to be able to apply the skills that I have learnt in the future, and be a change leader for society!
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Blog Entry #11
Lesson Overview: We went through three presentations. The first one on flight technology. The second on space junk and the third was my group's presentation on land space technologies.
Interesting Ideas / Observations:
Having never heard of space junk before, I found the second presentation on the need to clean up space junk extremely though-provoking. The junk consists of stuff ranging from spent rocket stages and defunct satellites to explosion and collision fragments. The observation is disturbing. We, as humans, have not only polluted our earth, but even the 'infinite' space that surrounds our world. It shows just how unsustainable the habits of humans are.
Moving on to my group, THE SPACEMEN's, presentation. I feel that we have included most of our important future technologies during our presentation. I would, therefore, like to go into deeper detail on two of our technologies to provide more efficient use of landspace.
The straddling bus: There is great potential in applying this technology in Singapore. Presently, our buses take up large spaces on roads. We have even set aside a whole lane, named the 'bus lane', solely for buses during certain hours of the day. Imagine if we could switch all buses to straddling buses. These buses will not require road space at all, as they will straddle over the road. Bus lanes can be abolished providing more lanes, and road space, for small passenger cars.
Venturing Underground: By building upwards (increasing the height of skyscrapers), we will always be limited by a height limit. In certain countries where wind speeds are higher, this height limit be lower. So imagine if we could venture underground, committing certain land functions underground altogether. Imagine a entirely underground transportation network. Your home is connected to SMU via a series of complex tunnels. We can then free up top land for land functions that require sunlight or other topsoil land functions, for example the harnessing of solar and wind energy.
Finally, there is another technology that could hold great potential for the future of expanding land space. Underwater homes. Presently, Istanbul has developed plans to build an underwater hotel - the poseidon hotel.
75% of the earth is covered with water. Wouldn't it be great if we could venture into this space as well?
Key Takeaways: We need to be change leaders. In each of our different aspects of study for our group presentations, we have demonstrated our abilities to think 'out of the box'. To come up with ideas that holds the potential to change the future. To not be afraid to come up with ideas that no one has though of, or appears feasible. Underwater hotels may seem outrageously absurd but look what Istanbul and Dubai are planning currently.
Personal Ratings: A fruitful lesson with lots of insights. I managed to gain valuable knowledge on the various different topics that the other groups presented.
Interesting Ideas / Observations:
Having never heard of space junk before, I found the second presentation on the need to clean up space junk extremely though-provoking. The junk consists of stuff ranging from spent rocket stages and defunct satellites to explosion and collision fragments. The observation is disturbing. We, as humans, have not only polluted our earth, but even the 'infinite' space that surrounds our world. It shows just how unsustainable the habits of humans are.
Moving on to my group, THE SPACEMEN's, presentation. I feel that we have included most of our important future technologies during our presentation. I would, therefore, like to go into deeper detail on two of our technologies to provide more efficient use of landspace.
The straddling bus: There is great potential in applying this technology in Singapore. Presently, our buses take up large spaces on roads. We have even set aside a whole lane, named the 'bus lane', solely for buses during certain hours of the day. Imagine if we could switch all buses to straddling buses. These buses will not require road space at all, as they will straddle over the road. Bus lanes can be abolished providing more lanes, and road space, for small passenger cars.
Venturing Underground: By building upwards (increasing the height of skyscrapers), we will always be limited by a height limit. In certain countries where wind speeds are higher, this height limit be lower. So imagine if we could venture underground, committing certain land functions underground altogether. Imagine a entirely underground transportation network. Your home is connected to SMU via a series of complex tunnels. We can then free up top land for land functions that require sunlight or other topsoil land functions, for example the harnessing of solar and wind energy.
Finally, there is another technology that could hold great potential for the future of expanding land space. Underwater homes. Presently, Istanbul has developed plans to build an underwater hotel - the poseidon hotel.
75% of the earth is covered with water. Wouldn't it be great if we could venture into this space as well?
Key Takeaways: We need to be change leaders. In each of our different aspects of study for our group presentations, we have demonstrated our abilities to think 'out of the box'. To come up with ideas that holds the potential to change the future. To not be afraid to come up with ideas that no one has though of, or appears feasible. Underwater hotels may seem outrageously absurd but look what Istanbul and Dubai are planning currently.
Personal Ratings: A fruitful lesson with lots of insights. I managed to gain valuable knowledge on the various different topics that the other groups presented.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Blog Entry #10
Lesson Overview:
Today, we learnt about the importance of technological forecasting and assessment. How we need to have a vision of the future and devise stepping stones to achieve it rather than just moving forward from the present.
Interesting Ideas and Observations:
We learnt the importance of strategic foresight. How it is necessary to prioritize whether and when to implement and use new innovations and technologies. This is especially important in developing countries where resources are scarce.
Prof also provided us with an interesting analogy of a 'crushed paper' to illustrate visionary thinking. Instead of looking at the implementation of a certain technology through a crushed sheet of paper, having to weave through constraints set up by current institution and policies, we need to have a 'clean sheet of paper.' As mentioned in my previous entry, the lack of imagination is the only thing holding us back and once we let our imagination run free, we will be open to so many more beneficial technologies.
We need to gain an understanding of what kinds of changes a new technology innovation might bring. This reminded me of the very first TWC lecture where Prof showed us where technology is leading us.. A fat, lazy person! If we have proper technology assessment procedures in place, the negative implications of this technology will be forecasted and we should be able to shift away from this future!
Prof also mentioned that we need to take obstacles and challenges of today and make them stepping stones in the future. I feel that one reason why people fear to innovate is because they fear failure. I found this video of technology forecaster, Paul Saffer. He speaks about the importance of cherishing failure.
The quote i took away from this video was "We FAIL our way into the future."
Key Takeaways:
The close interaction of governments (policy setters) and technology developers is required. Technology developers' lack of awareness often leads to negative implications in the form of ethical, environmental or economic effects. Governments need to interact with technology developers, and work closely to identify these negative implications and weight the benefits vs the costs.
Benjamin Franklin mentioned, "Look before, or you'll find yourself behind." Innovation is necessary. We need to keep looking forward. The video on teleportation technology was a bit far-fetched to me but who knows? Teleportation could be the next big thing. We should never rule out possibilities as this is what constraints us from innovation.
Personal Ratings:
I would rate this session 7/10. Although the topic was a bit dry, there were many videos which were really interesting. I especially enjoyed the video that gave us glimpses of the future technology awaiting us in the years to come. I must say that i can hardly wait. Also, this session really helped me complete the final section of my topical review paper.
Today, we learnt about the importance of technological forecasting and assessment. How we need to have a vision of the future and devise stepping stones to achieve it rather than just moving forward from the present.
Interesting Ideas and Observations:
We learnt the importance of strategic foresight. How it is necessary to prioritize whether and when to implement and use new innovations and technologies. This is especially important in developing countries where resources are scarce.
Prof also provided us with an interesting analogy of a 'crushed paper' to illustrate visionary thinking. Instead of looking at the implementation of a certain technology through a crushed sheet of paper, having to weave through constraints set up by current institution and policies, we need to have a 'clean sheet of paper.' As mentioned in my previous entry, the lack of imagination is the only thing holding us back and once we let our imagination run free, we will be open to so many more beneficial technologies.
We need to gain an understanding of what kinds of changes a new technology innovation might bring. This reminded me of the very first TWC lecture where Prof showed us where technology is leading us.. A fat, lazy person! If we have proper technology assessment procedures in place, the negative implications of this technology will be forecasted and we should be able to shift away from this future!
Prof also mentioned that we need to take obstacles and challenges of today and make them stepping stones in the future. I feel that one reason why people fear to innovate is because they fear failure. I found this video of technology forecaster, Paul Saffer. He speaks about the importance of cherishing failure.
The quote i took away from this video was "We FAIL our way into the future."
Key Takeaways:
The close interaction of governments (policy setters) and technology developers is required. Technology developers' lack of awareness often leads to negative implications in the form of ethical, environmental or economic effects. Governments need to interact with technology developers, and work closely to identify these negative implications and weight the benefits vs the costs.
Benjamin Franklin mentioned, "Look before, or you'll find yourself behind." Innovation is necessary. We need to keep looking forward. The video on teleportation technology was a bit far-fetched to me but who knows? Teleportation could be the next big thing. We should never rule out possibilities as this is what constraints us from innovation.
Personal Ratings:
I would rate this session 7/10. Although the topic was a bit dry, there were many videos which were really interesting. I especially enjoyed the video that gave us glimpses of the future technology awaiting us in the years to come. I must say that i can hardly wait. Also, this session really helped me complete the final section of my topical review paper.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Blog Entry #9
Lesson Overview
Today’s lesson was on new and emerging technologies. Some technologies discussed during the session were claytronics, plastic technology, wireless transmission of electricity and artificial intelligence. We looked at the drivers of the development of emerging and future technologies.
- Market-driven innovation (where there is a clear need for a solution)
- Technology- driven innovation (we need to educate the public that the technology is necessary)
- Supply can create demand (Prof mentioned that we never knew we needed the Iphone until we experienced it!)
- Advertising
- 4 SMARTs – Smart people, Smart Ideas, Smart Money, Smart Alliances
Interesting Ideas / Observation
Vibrational Medicine
I found most of the readings very interesting and exciting this week. A reading that particularly intrigued me was ‘The 10 Most Important Emerging Technologies for Humanity”. The article touched on vibrational medicine – an area that I feel could improve modern day medical techniques by leaps and bounds. A few weeks back, one of my classmates presented his IOP on NOTES, a surgical method to remove kidney stones from the human body. He mentioned that this surgical procedure could be the least invasive procedure in the future. But we can see that change is always constant, and already a new, more improved technology is emerging. With vibrational medicine technologies, there is a possibility that by using two sound sources and coordinating their configuration of standing waves, doctors and surgeons can manipulate internal organs or biological structures with precision without the need to slice into the patient’s body at all. If brought into reality, this technology would be completely non-invasive!
Augmented Reality
Another technology that amazed me in this article was augmented reality, a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are augmented by virtual computer-generated imagery. Prof showed us a video of how our Iphones, or any camera phone, could be improved with this technology. Imagine being able to view data about a certain item simply by looking at it through your mobile phone camera. This article talks about the application of augmented reality in the area of education, where students are provided with imagery, sounds and a user feedback mechanism (like being able to control virtual objects that appear to be floating around).
The below videos are just some other applications for augmented reality. (I particularly liked the app that made trying out new clothes so simple!)
Other applications for augmented reality that may exist in the future:
- Contact lenses with augmented reality apps
- Cars that have augmented windshields displaying directions, time to destination, Internet access?
Wireless transmission of electricity
Last week, we learnt that electric cars would be the ideal, green future for transportation technologies. The shift from fossil fuels to electricity would reduce overall CO2 emissions and reduce our dependency on fossil fuels. However the infrastructure to charge these cars would be a major challenge in the implementation of electric cars. Wireless electricity can solve this problem. Prof mentioned that we could fit all roads with this technology such that there is no need for recharging stations and cars can receive electricity ‘on-the-go’. A classmate proposed an even more interesting application of this technology. What if we could transmit electrical energy to developing countries where they lack the proper electrical infrastructure to make use of advanced technologies? This would enable them to leapfrog upon the technologies of developed nations. The results would be better standard of living, higher productivity and economic development in developed nations.
Claytronics
Defined as the concept that combines nanoscale robotics and computer science to create individual nanometer-scale computers called claytronic atoms, or catoms, which can interact with each other to form tangible 3-D objects. This concept has the potential to change many areas of our life. For example, being able to see a 3D figure of your friend, while communicating with him from abroad. This technology could also be implemented in the media industry. Imagine doing away with 3D TVs or Television sets all together and having claytronics in our homes where we can watch 3D figures move around as if the action was really happening in front of us. Imagine being able to watch a football match as if you were actually a spectator at the stadium.
Driver-less Cars
Google has already started on their journey in making this technology a reality by test-driving their first driver-less car. I can definitely see this technology becoming a reality in the next 2-3 years. Such a technology would firstly lead to fewer accidents. With an intelligent computer with programmed commands and route data, cars will be able to intelligently drive their riders to their destinations in a safe and swift manner. By programming a speed limit in driver-less cars, we can effectively reduce the accidents caused by drivers exceeding speed limits and drive dangerously. Although this technology is great with all its benefits and improvements to society, it will still not be welcome by people who love driving, people like me.
Optical Camouflage
One of the Individual Oral Presentations was on the topic of Optical Camouflage. As interesting as the technology sounds, I feel that there is little to no market for invisibility apart from the military. To maintain stealth in covert or undercover missions, commandoes or spies could make use of this technology. Apart from this, however, I feel there the only other market for this technology would be the filming of wildlife, like someone mentioned in class.
It was also mentioned in class that there are some issues that we may need to look at during the advancements of certain technologies.
Falling in love with virtual people
This is an interesting concept in which future men can program artificially intelligent robots to be their perfect partners. I, however, feel strongly that such a future would bring us more harm than good. In this concept, robots are programmed to like their partners / owners. This eradicates the need for men to meticulously build a good relationship with their partners. Consequently, this may bring up a generation of socially handicapped people.
Genomic Sequencing
Genetics is merely a start-point, what you do with it is what really matters. This ideology was clearly not existent in the movie Gattaca, where the ability of people was judged solely on the quality of their genes. Imagine a future where your resume comprises solely of your genetic makeup. Would this technology not be detrimental by bringing about discrimination against people with poor quality genes? Also, if a person finds out when he is young that he has a gene that makes him highly susceptible to getting cancer in the future, what is he to do with this information? I feel that such a piece of information would only serve to make him bitter and sour during the period of time he has to live. I feel that if this bit of information was not given to him, he may live a happy life before succumbing to cancer. Of course, we have to look at the flipside of the argument. Knowing that he will get cancer in the future may lead one to be ready for the disease. For example, he may decide to save up for chemo treatments in the future to combat the disease at an early stage.
Key Takeaways
Like Prof mentioned, “In terms of the development and application of new and emerging technologies, we are limited only by our imagination – and all to often, the lack thereof.” – We need to be open to new ideas, however outrageous or infeasible the idea is. We need to stop being limited by our lack of imagination and simply allow our ideas to roam freely. If you can imagine it, you can make it happen! Like Einstein mentioned,” The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge, but imagination.”
Innovations require the 4 Smarts – Smart people, Smart money, Smart ideas and Smart Alliances. I feel that the most important ‘smart’ here is smart ideas and smart people. Smart people will naturally come up with smart ideas. Smart ideas need to be beneficial and practical to society. Although I agree that for some extremely beneficial technologies, there need not exist a market for the technology to become a reality. However, I feel that looking at the society’s needs provides a good guideline for one to judge whether a new technology is worth implementing and investing in.
Issues for further discussion
I would have liked to discuss more on wireless electricity. What further benefits could the ability for developed nations to wirelessly transmit electricity to developing countries bring? Is it even feasible and if so, how long down the road will such a technology take to be commercialized? Will developed nations agree to such a concept knowing that developing nations have little to give them in return?
Since my topical review paper is on biometric technologies, I would have liked to discuss more on this area. Where are we today in biometric technology? In my research, I have read about a technology that is able to retrieve your identity by 3D Body scans. Below is a video of this technology used in airport security.
Personal Ratings
9.5/10. On the whole, this TWC lesson was the most interesting to date! I feel that the topic on new and emerging technologies had a big part to play, as I managed to envision what the future may be like with so many new and emerging technologies. I certainly look forward to experiencing first-hand these technologies in the near future. A message to innovators out there, “Please don’t make us wait too long!”
Today’s lesson was on new and emerging technologies. Some technologies discussed during the session were claytronics, plastic technology, wireless transmission of electricity and artificial intelligence. We looked at the drivers of the development of emerging and future technologies.
- Market-driven innovation (where there is a clear need for a solution)
- Technology- driven innovation (we need to educate the public that the technology is necessary)
- Supply can create demand (Prof mentioned that we never knew we needed the Iphone until we experienced it!)
- Advertising
- 4 SMARTs – Smart people, Smart Ideas, Smart Money, Smart Alliances
Interesting Ideas / Observation
Vibrational Medicine
I found most of the readings very interesting and exciting this week. A reading that particularly intrigued me was ‘The 10 Most Important Emerging Technologies for Humanity”. The article touched on vibrational medicine – an area that I feel could improve modern day medical techniques by leaps and bounds. A few weeks back, one of my classmates presented his IOP on NOTES, a surgical method to remove kidney stones from the human body. He mentioned that this surgical procedure could be the least invasive procedure in the future. But we can see that change is always constant, and already a new, more improved technology is emerging. With vibrational medicine technologies, there is a possibility that by using two sound sources and coordinating their configuration of standing waves, doctors and surgeons can manipulate internal organs or biological structures with precision without the need to slice into the patient’s body at all. If brought into reality, this technology would be completely non-invasive!
Augmented Reality
Another technology that amazed me in this article was augmented reality, a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are augmented by virtual computer-generated imagery. Prof showed us a video of how our Iphones, or any camera phone, could be improved with this technology. Imagine being able to view data about a certain item simply by looking at it through your mobile phone camera. This article talks about the application of augmented reality in the area of education, where students are provided with imagery, sounds and a user feedback mechanism (like being able to control virtual objects that appear to be floating around).
The below videos are just some other applications for augmented reality. (I particularly liked the app that made trying out new clothes so simple!)
Other applications for augmented reality that may exist in the future:
- Contact lenses with augmented reality apps
- Cars that have augmented windshields displaying directions, time to destination, Internet access?
Wireless transmission of electricity
Last week, we learnt that electric cars would be the ideal, green future for transportation technologies. The shift from fossil fuels to electricity would reduce overall CO2 emissions and reduce our dependency on fossil fuels. However the infrastructure to charge these cars would be a major challenge in the implementation of electric cars. Wireless electricity can solve this problem. Prof mentioned that we could fit all roads with this technology such that there is no need for recharging stations and cars can receive electricity ‘on-the-go’. A classmate proposed an even more interesting application of this technology. What if we could transmit electrical energy to developing countries where they lack the proper electrical infrastructure to make use of advanced technologies? This would enable them to leapfrog upon the technologies of developed nations. The results would be better standard of living, higher productivity and economic development in developed nations.
Claytronics
Defined as the concept that combines nanoscale robotics and computer science to create individual nanometer-scale computers called claytronic atoms, or catoms, which can interact with each other to form tangible 3-D objects. This concept has the potential to change many areas of our life. For example, being able to see a 3D figure of your friend, while communicating with him from abroad. This technology could also be implemented in the media industry. Imagine doing away with 3D TVs or Television sets all together and having claytronics in our homes where we can watch 3D figures move around as if the action was really happening in front of us. Imagine being able to watch a football match as if you were actually a spectator at the stadium.
Driver-less Cars
Google has already started on their journey in making this technology a reality by test-driving their first driver-less car. I can definitely see this technology becoming a reality in the next 2-3 years. Such a technology would firstly lead to fewer accidents. With an intelligent computer with programmed commands and route data, cars will be able to intelligently drive their riders to their destinations in a safe and swift manner. By programming a speed limit in driver-less cars, we can effectively reduce the accidents caused by drivers exceeding speed limits and drive dangerously. Although this technology is great with all its benefits and improvements to society, it will still not be welcome by people who love driving, people like me.
Optical Camouflage
One of the Individual Oral Presentations was on the topic of Optical Camouflage. As interesting as the technology sounds, I feel that there is little to no market for invisibility apart from the military. To maintain stealth in covert or undercover missions, commandoes or spies could make use of this technology. Apart from this, however, I feel there the only other market for this technology would be the filming of wildlife, like someone mentioned in class.
It was also mentioned in class that there are some issues that we may need to look at during the advancements of certain technologies.
Falling in love with virtual people
This is an interesting concept in which future men can program artificially intelligent robots to be their perfect partners. I, however, feel strongly that such a future would bring us more harm than good. In this concept, robots are programmed to like their partners / owners. This eradicates the need for men to meticulously build a good relationship with their partners. Consequently, this may bring up a generation of socially handicapped people.
Genomic Sequencing
Genetics is merely a start-point, what you do with it is what really matters. This ideology was clearly not existent in the movie Gattaca, where the ability of people was judged solely on the quality of their genes. Imagine a future where your resume comprises solely of your genetic makeup. Would this technology not be detrimental by bringing about discrimination against people with poor quality genes? Also, if a person finds out when he is young that he has a gene that makes him highly susceptible to getting cancer in the future, what is he to do with this information? I feel that such a piece of information would only serve to make him bitter and sour during the period of time he has to live. I feel that if this bit of information was not given to him, he may live a happy life before succumbing to cancer. Of course, we have to look at the flipside of the argument. Knowing that he will get cancer in the future may lead one to be ready for the disease. For example, he may decide to save up for chemo treatments in the future to combat the disease at an early stage.
Key Takeaways
Like Prof mentioned, “In terms of the development and application of new and emerging technologies, we are limited only by our imagination – and all to often, the lack thereof.” – We need to be open to new ideas, however outrageous or infeasible the idea is. We need to stop being limited by our lack of imagination and simply allow our ideas to roam freely. If you can imagine it, you can make it happen! Like Einstein mentioned,” The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge, but imagination.”
Innovations require the 4 Smarts – Smart people, Smart money, Smart ideas and Smart Alliances. I feel that the most important ‘smart’ here is smart ideas and smart people. Smart people will naturally come up with smart ideas. Smart ideas need to be beneficial and practical to society. Although I agree that for some extremely beneficial technologies, there need not exist a market for the technology to become a reality. However, I feel that looking at the society’s needs provides a good guideline for one to judge whether a new technology is worth implementing and investing in.
Issues for further discussion
I would have liked to discuss more on wireless electricity. What further benefits could the ability for developed nations to wirelessly transmit electricity to developing countries bring? Is it even feasible and if so, how long down the road will such a technology take to be commercialized? Will developed nations agree to such a concept knowing that developing nations have little to give them in return?
Since my topical review paper is on biometric technologies, I would have liked to discuss more on this area. Where are we today in biometric technology? In my research, I have read about a technology that is able to retrieve your identity by 3D Body scans. Below is a video of this technology used in airport security.
Personal Ratings
9.5/10. On the whole, this TWC lesson was the most interesting to date! I feel that the topic on new and emerging technologies had a big part to play, as I managed to envision what the future may be like with so many new and emerging technologies. I certainly look forward to experiencing first-hand these technologies in the near future. A message to innovators out there, “Please don’t make us wait too long!”
Monday, October 11, 2010
Blog Entry #8
Lesson Overview
Our lesson today highlighted the key topics and concerns regarding the current sources of energy, and where we are headed in the future in this aspect. Fossil fuels have long been regarded as the world’s primary source of energy. However, this source is highly unsustainable and a shift towards renewable energy sources is inevitable and necessary. Firstly, fossil fuels are limited and finite resources. The continuous burning of these fuels will result in there not being any fossil fuels left for future generations. Secondly, the increased burning of fossil fuels results in an increased production of greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide. We discussed the drivers of global energy change such as rising energy consumption and the need for economic development, and key considerations such as energy security and energy as a source of national income. We discussed about emerging and future sources of renewable energy such as solar, wind and the use of biomass.
Interesting ideas & observations
The days of fossil fuels are numbered
“The days of fossil fuels are numbered. Renewable energy will drive the Green Revolution.” I agree with this statement by Prof Shahi. The continuous burning of fossil fuels has led our environment to a dire state. A study carried out showed that the social costs of all environmental impacts caused by burning of fossil fuels amounted to a total of US$3.8 billion, with health impacts accounting for the largest portion of the costs. Furthermore, the finite nature of fossil fuels is another indication that a change to a more renewable source is needed. The figures produced by the world’s oil industry say it all. Already 50% of the world’s entire oil supply has been burnt through. If we continue with our current oil consumption pattern, our future generations may not have any oil to consume. Hence a change is definitely needed. Renewable sources of energy such as solar and wind, and other emerging technologies like biofuels, look like the solution to this problem and an adequate replacement to fossil fuels. Although solar panels in deserts and windmills in the seas may have environmental implications towards desert and marine life respectively as mentioned by one of the presenters today, I feel that the negative effect of these energy sources on the environment is nothing compared to the impact of fossil fuels. This, and the finite nature of fossil fuels, brings us an imperative need for change.
The paper ‘Energy technologies for a sustainable future (transport)’ proposed an interesting action plan to push a more sustainable transport system to the market. The goal: All transport modes (except air travel) dominated by hydrogen-fuel-cell or electric vehicles fuelled by near-zero-GHG emission biofuels. The action plan is divided into 3 phases; the first phase (2000-2030) would see the commercialization of at least one of the 3 technology groups. The second phase (2030-2050) would see the mass market of consumers accept these new technologies and high demand for these vehicles and the third phase (2050 onwards) would see the goal fulfilled with nearly all new vehicles utilizing the new technologies. I think that this goal is definitely attainable by 2050. The Chevrolet Volt is set to go on sale this November as General Motors recently began an intensive campaign to explain the car.
The transition process from fossil fuels to alternative energy sources has already begun in the transportation industry. I will not be long before other industries follow in this direction.
Sustainable energy sources waiting to be harnessed
These were the figures provided during the lesson:
Solar Energy: 3850,000EJ
Wind Energy: 2250EJ
Biomass: 3000EJ
Primary Energy Use in 2009: 487 EJ
Electricity: 567 EJ
From these figures, we can see that these alternative energy sources can provide an adequate amount of energy that would fulfill and even exceed our future energy needs.
The above video link shows how a farm can be run where farmers will be able to generate their own energy to run their farm and agricultural equipment. Technologies like solar, wind, hydrogen fuel cells and bioenergy are all utilized to enable the farm to function as one giant self-generating ecological cycle. The energy sources proposed are also completely green and have little to zero environmental impacts. I feel that these are the type of energy systems that we need to move towards in the future in order to preserve our earth and resources for the use of future generations. We do not need to decide which type of renewable energy source serves us best as existing together as one system is the best approach in shifting towards sustainable energy sources. Each source of energy fills in where other sources fail. For example, in times of little sunlight and heat, we can shift from solar energy sources to wind energy sources. The large diversity of energy sources also increases our energy security.
As Randy mentioned in his presentation, however, mainly nine challenges are faced in the search for alternative energy. Two challenges that struck me as strong hindrances to the shift towards alternative energy are intermittency and commercialization. As mentioned before, I feel that having a variety of alternative energy sources that can be used during periods when one source is unusable can solve intermittency. Commercialization is a problem as it is a long process (20-25 years) for technologies to successfully penetrate the global market.
In the paper ‘Energy Technologies for a Sustainable Future’, under the section Beyond R&D, it advocates that apart from R&D, it is extremely vital for governments to provide more direct support for bringing these technologies to a commercial state. Certain policy tools facilitating change to a green energy, as mentioned in the lesson, are subsidies, incentives (as exemplified in Germany) and education campaigns (which are likely only to work in the long term).
Renewable Energy Sources in Singapore
It was mentioned during the course of the class that the energy security in Singapore is zero. Why? We depend on other countries for energy imports and have not invested in anything capable of energy generation. Though one key concern is the lack of available land space in Singapore, I feel that we should stop using this as an excuse to continue depending on other countries for energy.
Just look at what Germany has done. Every roof is a potential site for a solar panel. They even deployed solar panels along the highway. Kinetic track pads, as someone mentioned, could help harness kinetic energy from people who step on the pad and the energy harnessed could be used to operate a traffic light.
The following ‘speed bump’ technology is an enhancement of this technology, which can be used to harness kinetic energy from the weight of your car. The technology has already been implemented overseas in several high volume traffic areas.
Nuclear Energy
Lastly, it was addressed in one of the presentations today that Nuclear Energy has the potential to be the sustainable energy source of the future. Personally, I highly doubt this. Too many people have attributed nuclear energy to a dangerous and highly hazardous source of energy. Health concerns, such as genetic mutations leading to tumors as a result of exposure to radioactive materials, dampen public acceptance of nuclear energy into the market. I also feel that one key concern is the production of nuclear waste, which is long-lived and has no safe means for disposal. That, and the high maintenance costs, makes the shift towards nuclear energy highly unlikely in my opinion.
Prof mentioned an interesting idea that entailed nuclear energy being transmitted from plants in the US to other countries. No maintenance costs are imposed on recipient countries and the US handles the waste disposal.
Key takeaways
- The complete shift towards renewable energy sources is necessary and inevitable and the sooner we move in that direction, the better.
- Governments have to play a key role in pushing these technologies to be commercialized by using policy tools to facilitate this change.
- Renewable energy sources should exist together, as a system, like in the energy-sufficient farm, and not be seen as a tradeoff with other renewable energy sources.
Issues for further discussion
- The investment in renewable energy sources in Singapore was an interesting topic and could have been discussed further. I can see solar and kinetic (Kinetic energy track pads and ‘speed bumps’) being key energy sources in Singapore in the future, but highly doubt that wind energy will be feasible. Because of the number of high-rise buildings in Singapore, there is a lot of obstruction to the free-flow of wind. Hence the full potential of harnessing wind energy will not be realized here.
- The question on Carbon Capture Recycling could have been further tackled. The question posed was “If CCR on a large scale removed CO2 from the atmosphere, which is a key component of the carbon cycle, should we continue to remove CO2 from the atmosphere?” Personally, I feel that the proposition that we will run into a scarcity of carbon dioxide in the future after implementing this technology on a large scale is quite far-fetched. Carbon dioxide is so abundant in the environment today that a net decrease in CO2 levels will only lead to a benefit to the environment. However there is a possibility that energy-intensive industries may use this as an excuse to burn more fossil fuels resulting in further depletion of already scare non-renewable resources.
Personal ratings
9/10. The lesson brought up many important issues regarding the ‘real’ and current problem of finding sustainable alternatives for fossil fuels. Many interesting ideas were raised and I learnt about many new technologies preparing to enter the energy arena such as osmotic power and fusion energy. A very informative & thought-provoking session!
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Blog Entry #7
Lesson Overview:
During TWC session 7, still on the topic of the Bio-Business Revolution, we moved from technology in Healthcare and biomedical sciences to technology in agri-biology, environmental life sciences and industrial biotechnology. Can technology in this area really provide us with a solution to the issue of sustainability? Can agricultural biotechnology really help us get more out of agricultural land with a lesser ecological footprint? We also discussed Biofuels – a possible way to a sustainable energy future, as well as the long argued GM VS Non-GM food argument.
Ideas & Observations:
I found Reading 7, “How to feed the world in 2015”, very interesting. With the increase in population growth, urbanization and incomes, the demand for food is likely to increase leading to a shortage of food. Although through positive growth in food production, we have managed to ensure an adequate supply of food globally and nationally, hunger and malnutrition, especially in least developed countries, has persisted. Why? The paper states that lack of income opportunities for the poor is one factor that has limited the effect of positive growth for the poor. The people in developing countries are stuck in a poverty cycle where they cannot afford to buy food even if there is food available. Poverty leads to hunger and hunger leads to poverty (because hungry people are vulnerable to diseases and lack of productivity at work). The solution offered is GDP growth originating from agriculture. Agriculture would appeal to the 75% of the people living in rural areas. Discrimination against this large portion of rural farmers, especially in growth policies, has to stop in order for the overall country’s economy to progress.
This brings me to a quote I read in “Hungry Corporations” by Helena Paul, “Food insecurity is highly complex and requires careful analysis of the problems and possible solutions. Issues such as poverty, lack of access to land, water, seed and food, poor infrastructure and distribution, unsustainable farming practices, national debt, wild fluctuations and inequalities in the world market are seen as more fundamental … Enough food is produced for everyone now, yet 800 million people are hungry, thus indicating that production levels are not the real problem.”
I agree with this statement to a large extent, hence I am unsure that advances in the biotech industry in the form of increasing crop yields is really the solution to combat world hunger. I feel that what is more important is to make food accessible to the poor by societal changes and political will (as mentioned in the reading).
“When we are able to grow the resources we need, we will finally be on the road to sustainability.”
Growing the resources we need would definitely put us on the road to sustainability. For example, biofuels could provide us with a sustainable source of energy. But the resources used to grow these resources are far from unlimited. In the situation of biofuels, the usage of land and water supplies is a key factor. One really needs to consider the opportunity costs of such technologies. Furthermore, there is significant environmental degradation through the increased uses of pesticides.
GM food and whether they should be pushed upon developing countries as humanitarian aid.
Firstly, I have to say that I have no problems with genetically modified crops. The ability of these crops to fight pests and diseases and produce increased yields is definitely essential to the pursuit for a sustainable solution to world hunger. Furthermore, as we are facing a future of severe climate changes, such technologies in the biotech industry could be vital for food security in the future. Learning how to make crops resistant to droughts or that can grow on arid land could indeed be beneficial. My concern, however, is the intentions of these biotech corporations. If they are more concerned about profits and returns, this may lead them to make irresponsible decisions based on their own greed. For example, pushing technologies that are not totally safe or healthy or beneficial to us. And since one of their key methods of pushing GM tech is by using their crops as humanitarian aid, developing countries that accept this aid will be the first ones to suffer as a result of the corporations' irresponsible actions.
“We strongly object that the image of the poor and hungry from our countries is being used by giant MNCs to push a technology that is neither safe, environmentally friendly, nor economically beneficial to us. We do not believe that such companies or gene technologies will help our farmers to produce the food that is needed in the 21st century. On the contrary, we think it will destroy the diversity, the local knowledge and the sustainable agricultural systems that our farmers have developed for millennia and that it will undermine our capacity to feed ourselves.” – FAO statement by 24 delegates from 18 African Countries.
As for the IOPs, I found Cherie’s presentation on coral reefs and marine life really interesting. It is quite appalling to see how humans continue to blatantly destroy all forms of natural beauty and life forms around them. Hence, I am definitely happy to see that chemical technology has given birth to biorock, a way to increase and accelerate the growth of corals and hence boosting its survival.
Key takeaways:
Though according to Norman Burlog, biotechnology can and will help us meet the growing demand for food while preserving the environment for future generations to come, to complement this, we must also look at solving more fundamental problems like poverty and poor infrastructure especially in developing countries if we really want to solve the problem of world hunger.
In knowing that food is precious, we as people of developed countries should be more careful with food wastage. The little food that we waste could save the life of a hungry child in Africa dying of malnutrition.
Issues for further discussion:
I feel that the issues regarding GURTS (Genetic Use Restriction Technology)– the technology that Monsanto produced that restricted the use of their crops by causing second-generation seeds to be sterile could have been further discussed. There were many ethical concerns raised that hindered Monsanto from making this technology commercially available.
Are we blurring the lines between species by creating transgenic combinations? It is argued by some that the mixing of species is unnatural and immoral. With the birth of the Zorse (Zebra-horse), how soon will it be before we start mixing animal genes with human genes?
Personal Ratings:
8/10. Interesting topics raised with lots of room for discussion.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Blog Entry #6
Today, we focused on Technology and the Biobusiness revolution. Prof showed us the various areas of biobusiness and further narrowed our focus to healthcare and biomedical sciences. We looked into the different parts of biomedical biobusiness including pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, herbal and traditional medicine. We differentiated between healthcare revolution, which focused more on services and biomedical science revolution, which focused on treatments.
Key Ideas / Observations
“The biobusiness revolution has the potential to / WILL transform our lives (Health, food, clothes, energy sources, others) of our economies.
It is indeed impressive what the bioscience and healthcare arena has achieved till today. For example, IVF has become a norm to overcome female infertility. Indeed the future looks bright for this arena. With our knowledge of DNA advancing, and the completion of the human genome project, personalized treatments has become possible to dealing with diseases. Personalized medical care in oncology is currently a reality for a select group of cancers. With improved knowledge of tumor biology and the advent of novel technologies allowing identification of molecular targets, it has become possible to develop therapies against different subsets of cancers.
Even Netrogena has come up with a personalized treatment approach to solving teenager Acne problems as shown in the link below: http://www.skinid.com/econsumer/clearskin/index.view
Teenagers can purchase netrogena products according to their skin type, their type of acne and even their stress levels. And all this can be done online!
NOTES – the new method of surgery to remove kidney stones boasts less pain and less risks of infection as compared to other forms of surgery. I personally would prefer such a method as compared to open surgery as less ‘cutting’ is involved. However the claim that NOTES is the least invasive method that can ever be attained is probably untrue. Prof already mentioned about an advanced treatment using wave energy to rupture the kidney stones. I found this extremely interesting and went to read up on it. Extracorporal shock wave Lithotripsy is a non-surgical treatment in which shock wave energy is use to break the stone into smaller fragments which then can pass more easily through the urinary system. The success rate is 70-90%, however there are several limitations of this procedure such as large, hard or impacted stones and treatment in overweight patients.
In the reading on disruptive innovation, the paper talks about the need for disruptive innovation in the healthcare industry. Innovations that improve a product or service in ways that the market does not expect are required. One of the ways suggested is by enabling a larger population of less-skilled people to do in a more convenient, less expensive setting things that historically could be performed only by expensive specialists in centralized, inconvenient locations. Rather than asking expensive professionals to move down-market, we need to focus on enabling less expensive professionals to do progressively more sophisticated things in less expensive settings. For example, equipping nurses to treat more advanced diseases without the need for a physician. In a way, I feel that Netrogena is doing just that with its personalized acne medication. There is no longer a need for dermatologists to recommend these products to teenagers based on their skin condition as they can order their own personalized products online.
I found Nicholas’ presentation on policies that would cause a positive impact on the healthcare scene in 3rd world countries very interesting. I feel that in the short term, the pricing of the drugs is most imperative. In the short term, making drugs more accessible to the poor needs to be the government’s main priority. In the long term, governments need to focus on R&D. I feel that most pharmaceutical industries may not be interested in researching in better ways to due with 3rd world diseases like Malaria, AIDS and tuberculosis because the poor people there cannot afford to purchase their treatments. On the other hand, they are keener to research on western diseases like cancer and heart diseases because the people who have these diseases are rich and can thus afford their treatments. Of course, I do realize that this may depend on level of CSR in the pharmaceutical industry. I feel that governments can play a vital role here by putting in money for R&D into specifically, third world diseases. They can do R&D jointly with pharmaceutical companies to cover their costs and risks. Governments can also invite foreign pharmaceutical companies to set up plants in 3rd world countries so they can understand 3rd world diseases better and can provide first-hand help to people living there. Hence R&D is not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution, we need to focus R&D on specific diseases that would benefit the 3rd world.
Key takeaways
There is much potential in the biobusiness arena. As Clayton Christensen mentioned in his report, we do need to focus on ‘disruptive innovations’. We need to enable a larger population of less-skilled people to do in a more convenient, less expensive setting things that historically could be performed only by expensive specialists in centralized, inconvenient locations.
R&D is not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution. In terms of diseases, developing countries and developed countries may have different needs. Hence, to benefit developing countries, we need to focus R&D on their diseases.
Issues for further discussion
I feel that the topic on genetic engineering and cloning could have been discussed deeper. In predicting whether cloning will become a norm in the future, Prof showed us the example of IVF (test-tube babies),which was also widely rejected when it was first discovered, but now is accepted as a norm to dealing with female infertility. Will cloning, in the future, also become a norm?
Ratings
7/10. There were a lot of readings but I found most of them rather interesting and though-provoking. The number of presentations was also less than usual and hence gave us more room for discussions.
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