The Blogging Dukes

How do vaccines cause autism? See exactly what the science says!

This is a humorous post commenting on peoples’ loss of faith in science.

greenmachineteam131

In recent classes we have been discussing the role of credibility and trust in science and scientists, as well as societies view on science as a whole. The article I chose discusses these exact issues with one of the largest, most well known governmental science Centers, the Center for Disease...

Its interesting how even such a well known government institution such as the CDC could be thrown into doubt. It is important to remember all the things that can cause an organization to lose credibility.

Evolution is one of the most confirmed and rejected theories in the public’s eye. When Darwin published his theory, he was worried about being rejected by the scientific community because it went against the very grain of the creation theory. Darwin’s theory is now the basis for many scientific...

This post gives an interesting view on trust in science. Sometimes no amount of evidence can overcome the prejudice and prior beliefs that people hold.

With risk comes reward. Well, that is what many stock market books say, but can that be applied to science as well. Innovation is the goal of many scientists, whether by money, success, awards, or a spot in the history books. The risk of disaster is always on the minds of scientists as they try...

This post points seems to recognize that there were some possibly positive effects of the disastrous Challenger explosion. Any future expeditions run by NASA are likely to be more careful and better planned. Science builds upon itself and without failure, there would be less successes.

thesimpsonslifestyle

The Simpsons

This cartoon illustrates the two sides to the evolution and natural selection debate. Lisa Simpson represents the people who believe in evolution and natural selection, while Ned Flanders represents creationists. In the cartoon when Lisa is trying to get Flanders to see that how he is breeding his fish is actually natural selection. The cartoon is related to our reading on how many people want proof of evolution and natural selection that they can see with their own eyes, but even when scientists show them proof they refuse to change their mind.

This cartoon seems to represent a satire on the comparison between the creationist and evolutionist arguments. The cartoon attempts to show that religious people are stubborn and refuse to accept the clear truths that science presents them with. On the other hand, this cartoon seems to show how science sometimes attempts to subvert religion despite the equality that society claims it wants.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/20/science/nasa-spacecraft-get-a-closer-look-at-pluto-and-ceres-whatever-they-may-be.html?_r=0

In class recently we learned about the roles of credibilityand trust, and how they play a role in the history of science including the example of cold fusion....

This article discusses the credibility of scientists. It brings into question the validity of scientific discoveries such as the classification of Pluto as a planet. Was the mis-classification of Pluto really a scientific oversight? or was it simply a choice that was overruled? Some scientific decisions may not have such simple reasons.

Science plays a crucial role in our society, whether it is through the genetically modified organisms we eat at our dinner tables, to the IPhones connected to every teenager’s hip, or medical advancements used for organ transplants. Science plays an active role in my life because it’s constantly...

This post sums up the changes that most people in the current generation had to go through as technology developed. The changing communication and entertainment options were especially noticeable.

fandomshatepeopleofcolor

Henrietta Lacks was a black tobacco farmer from Roanoke, Virginia who died of an aggressive form of cervical cancer in 1951. Unbeknownst to her, doctors removed cell tissue from her body during treatment then cultured and shared them with fellow researchers after her death. These cells were the basis of the immortal ‘HeLa’ line, which was used by Jonas Salk to develop the polio vaccine, NASA to observe human cell behavior in zero gravity, and in the creation of many of the drugs and medicines taken for granted today. HeLa remains a foundation for other landmark scientific discoveries, not excluding breakthroughs in cancer, AIDS, and genetics research. For decades, however, Lacks and her family received no credit, a tragedy that was partially remedied in 2013, when an agreement was reached between Lacks’ descendants and the National Institutes of Health regarding consent and controlled access to HeLa. On January 30, 2015, members of the Lacks family were honored guests at the White House for the unveiling of President Obama’s new ‘Precision Medicine’ initiative. According to WhiteHouse.gov: “[The] Precision Medicine Initiative will pioneer a new model of patient-powered research that promises to accelerate biomedical discoveries […] to select which treatments will work best for which patients” with an emphasis on rigorous privacy protections. Since the Administration has already recognized the contributions and sacrifices of Henrietta and her family, a designated day of recognition for her would be a logical next step towards not only promoting this initiative, but bestowing long overdue acknowledgement upon the matriarch of modern biomedical research. Please add your name in support of a National Day of Recognition for Henrietta Lacks. Sources: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/ smart-news/the-end-of-the- henrietta-lacks-saga-25204450/ http://www.smithsonianmag.com/ science-nature/henrietta- lacks-immortal-cells-6421299/? no-ist http://rebeccaskloot.com/the- immortal-life/ http://www.whitehouse.gov/the- press-office/2015/01/30/fact- sheet-president-obama-s- precision-medicine-initiative

Hi, I hope you don’t mind sharing this petition. Your blog has a sizable following and we could really use a boost. In short, Henrietta Lacks died of cervical cancer in 1951. Doctors removed cell tissue from her body during treatment then cultured and shared them with fellow researchers after her death. Prized for their ‘immortal’ quality, ‘HeLa’ (Henrietta Lacks) is still used today in biomedical research. To date, Lacks’ descendants have not received compensation for the manifold scientific breakthroughs made possible with the use of HeLa. Please consider supporting this worthy cause. Thank you!

This post summarizes the story of HeLa cells. It was an important scientific study that was very controversial. It is clearly important to remember social issues when working in science.

whats-out-there

Most scientific claims made on the frontier will ultimately be disproved, due primarily to bad or incomplete data, and occasionally to blunder. But the scientific method, which allows for expeditions down intellectual dead ends, also promotes ideas, models, and predictive theories that can be spectacularly correct. No other enterprise in the history of human thought has been as successful at decoding the ways and means of the universe.

Neil deGrasse Tyson (via whats-out-there)

This quote shows the nature of the “Golem” discussed in the course. The golem means well but can easily make mistakes. Many of the scientific studies discussed by collins and pinch are summed up in this short post.

webofgoodnews

Australian scientists make breakthrough in treatment for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia with a non-invasive ultrasound technology

Researchers at the University of Queensland’s Brain Institute hope to trial a planned “cheap, mobile’’ ultrasound device for humans in two years after the technique was found to work on mice.

The drug-free treatment uses ultrasound waves to break apart the neurotoxic amyloid plaques that cause memory loss and cognitive decline.

It is hoped the breakthrough will help in the treatment of sufferers — particularly those diagonised early in the progress of the disease — and open up new avenues in research in both Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Webofgoodnews.com

This is an interesting discovery and fits well with the scientific discovery module. It would be interesting to know if there is any controversy about who owns the discovery...

From the two readings, both authorsdiscuss how technology is not only viewed for its practical use but how innovations have political properties. These perspectives from both authors helped me understand that technology really is influenced by behavior and other social norms. In my blog I discuss...

This blog compares some of our readings and describes how technology shapes us. I like the way that Alex talked about the bus building and the way that it was limited.

laroatonson-blog

This video reminds me a lot of tacit knowledge. Everybody i am sure tried to explain to her what hearing was like since she was little but she never actually knew what it was like. No one could explain it. There was no list of instructions. She knew nothing until experiencing it for the first time.

(Comment 5)

This video made me become more hesitant to disregard tacit knowledge as simply a concept that we are writing poor instructions for. There absolutely are things such as the experience of sensory inputs that cannot be written down and learned by someone else who has not had those experiences yet.

#AlexAntezana #Spring2015 #Comment20 #ISAT131 #Section001

Comment 20

Seeing videos like this all over Facebook really remind me of tacit knowledge. The fact that this woman has lived 29 years without hearing means that many people have unsuccessfully tried to help her understand what its like to hear. But now with technological innovations, she was able to experience it and it must have been a completely different feeling to what others have told her.

sixpenceee

The Science of Aging

(Source)

Comment #8

I found this article very interesting because I was interested in how aging occurs and was it biological, based on lifestyle, or if it is genetically. The infographic is easy to understand, which is helpful in explaining some of the ideas conveyed.

#AlexAntezana #Section001 #ISAT131 #Comment19 #Spring2015

Comment 19

Not really understanding how aging works before this diagram, it was really interesting to see how the body changes with age. I always wondered what exactly makes the body transform and this graph explained it in a simple manner.

laroatonson-blog

Starting this Monday, 4/20, Neil deGrasse Tyson will be appearing weekly in what may be the first late-night science talk show.

This is combining the concepts of science and society, and leading to new scientific discovery by our youth and people that didn’t even realize they liked science in the first place. I am very excited to see the success of this show. though, I do think it is a little sad that we must combine science with comedy and pop culture to get people interested in science.

(Comment 7)

Neil deGrasse Tyson has always been very good at discussing the political implications of scientific ignorance. Once politicians don’t know what they’re talking about, they start to make decisions based off of their own motivations and belief systems. This is a very dangerous way to run a country and I’m glad that it’s being discussed.

#AlexAntezana #Spring2015 #Comment18 #ISAT131 #Section001

Comment 18

For Neil deGrasse Tyson to discuss this makes me think back to Gasland, specifically to the EPA part. When the EPA member discusses how the EPA won't look into environmental impacts that fracturing is causing. Probably because of all the money that fracking brings in. If this kind of decision-making continues then who knows what other decisions will be made while disregarding the consequences they bring.

micdotcom

A paralyzed man in a bionic suit will walk a marathon

The Irish Examiner reports that Nathan Kirwan, a 26-year-old from Cork, Ireland, will attempt to complete 55,000 steps in the suit, fittingly dubbed “Lazarus.” The walk will be take place over five months. Kirwan hopes to raise approximately $167,000 to buy the suit — but it won’t be just for him.

greenmachineteam131

Comment #2

Science and technology are taking us in places we couldn’t have even dreamed to have been taken before. It is insane to think that people who are paralyzed can walk again. The fact that the technology is so expensive, however, raises a question about if one person’s mobility is more important than another’s because of the amount of money in their wallet.

(Comment 18)

This reminds me of another article I read that listed all of the institutions that had exoskeleton prototypes. The US military has some ambitious ideas and I think that the golem metaphor fits very well for this technology. Exoskeletons will simply give the individual more power to do what they really want to do, whether it be for moral or immoral purposes.

#AlexAntezana #Comment17 #Section001 #ISAT131 #Spring2015

Comment 17

Yet another technological innovation that helps those living a life without any complications. For a paralyzed man to be able to walk a marathon is something that would have been ridiculed as impossible decades ago. Hopefully this technology will be better accessible in the future considering it costs more than 160,000 per suit.

greenmachineteam131

In the future, planes could be like zero-emission hotels in the sky, running on solar cells and hydrogen engines.

The technological advances of the past decade and a half have truly been amazing, and it is without a doubt that they will continue to grow in their extravagance. This plane is just another example of ingenuity, the blending of present and future, and addressing global issues in a eco-friendly manner. Hopefully this, or at least more vehicles like it, will become a reality and not just concept.

#AlexAntezana #ISAT131 #Section001 #Spring2015 #Comment16

Comment 16

Although this aircraft is only just a vision for the future, for it to have already conceptualized a plan in which there would be zero-carbon emission is revolutionary. Its amazing to see potential future innovations that we might experience one day. Not only will this innovation change the way we preserve fuel but also help clean our environment with less emissions.

mothernaturenetwork

10 innovative ideas that let us live on water As the ocean makes inroads over the next century, people living in low-lying areas will be displaced, leaving them in need of new homes.

Comment #9

This article is surrounding the idea of water innovation, by allowing humans the capabilities to live in water. This is important because climate change is a major issue right now in our society and the sea level is only rising. This has gave people the idea to create a way in which we can live in water.

(Comment 12)

I like the ideas presented in the article, but I don’t think they would ever happen any time soon. Humans only really change when they’re forced to and right now, there isn’t an obvious pressure or incentive to drive them to make these structures.