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Week 9: Space and Art Pattriana Perry Whether it may be the Milky Way, Medusa Nebula, or even the sig ht of the Moon, space will forever be light years of galaxies and unknown planets waiting to be discovered.  Space has always been enormously fascinating to me due to its endless mysteries. The universe is so incredibly massive that it is difficult to wrap my head around it. Luckily, the "Powers of Ten" video and Carl Sagan’s “Pale Blue Dot” are extremely effective in explaining how vast our universe is in terms of scale and mind capacities. It is crazy to think that everything and everyone we have ever known exists or has existed on this planet, yet it is only a speck of dust in the scheme of this entire universe. Back then, these ideas seem wayward and idealistic, but it is an art form for those who are grounded in the laws of nature and science.  A way of identifying art and space is through the universally known arrangement of stars, also coined as the term, constel

Week 8: Nanotechnology and Art Pattriana Perry Richard Faynman References In this week's lecture, we learned about how important nanotechnology is.  Dr. Gimzewski, former IBM researcher, and current UCLA professor informed us that almost every  aspect of science and technology is affected or influenced by nanotechnology.  Nanotechnology was first developed by Richard Faynman at CalTech in 1959 (NANO.gov). Since then, the field of nanoscience has matured into one of the most advanced scientific arenas around the globe. The invention and development of the microscope allowed for scientists to look at atoms and particles at a molecular level for the first time in history. This invention furthered the development and progress of many respective fields. The medical field made huge strides in the prevention and treatment of diseases through nanotechnology. The understanding of how atoms and cells work at a molecular level made it possible for the creation of many cures and prev

Event 3 Pattriana Perry The Construction of the ‘Environment’ in Epigenetics Research: A Social Study Risk Factors I went to an event where Clemence Pinel gave an hour-long lecture about the environmental role in epigenetics research. When I first arrived, the room was very small and over-packed. I do not think they planned to host over 40 students. They asked for some people to live because it became a fire hazard; however, I was able to grab an open space and stay. Throughout the lecture, she discussed the two different studies she did in the United Kingdom. There was laboratory A: Breast Cancer molecular biology lab. The two main research areas were glycobiology and epigenetic. The work was centered around two genes aka "our genes". Then there was laboratory B: Computational biology lab. There were three main research areas: epigenetics, microbiome, and transcriptomics The work was centered around their twins data: aka "our twins." After figurin

Week 7: Neuroscience and Art Pattriana Perry Purkinje and Granule Cells from Pigeon Ceregellum by Santiago Ramon y Cajal, 1899. This week’s lecture and readings focused on the overlap of Neuroscience and Art. Neuroscience is the study of the brain. We looked at three major topics surrounding the brain - (1) the discovery of the brain and its structure and chemistry, (2) dreams and the unconscious mind, and (3) mind-altering chemicals. The brain has such a central function in our body and there is so much mystery surrounding it - there is no surprise it has fascinated and inspired artists for cent uries. Professor Vesna began with the history of the study of the human brain. Ramon Ikahal and Franz Joseph Gall were two critical figures in the study of brain anatomy and structure. Later, Santiago Ramon y Cajal made huge advances in the study of neurons and their connections.  When discussing dreams and the unconscious mind, I thought about the movie Inception.  This movie wa

Pattriana Perry Week 6: Biotech and Art Oncomouse This week's topic, biotechnology, in my opinion, was a controversial one. While I was going through lecture materials I continued to ask myself the question: is it ethical for us humans to conduct experiments and test on animals for the sake of scientific (and financial) gain? The question itself is hard to answer because, on one hand, I do advocate for our scientific advancement as A people, but on the other hand, I do not like the idea of harming animals in order to accomplish our goals.   I would agree with my professor’s assessment that much of biotechnology art is gearing towards creating shock value. Personally, I found the case study of  OncoMouse to be rather disturbing. The OncoMouse is a mouse that has been genetically modified to be more susceptible to cancer, making it a better subject for cancer research. The mouse is of significant importance to human illness research. I believe the ultimate result of a close

I attended the Metaphors on Vision: Films by Stan Brakhage event at the Billy Wilder Theater. The event began with an hour-long Q&A. Unfortunately, I found it difficult to participate in this section of the program as I had no prior knowledge Stan Brakhage and his work. I believe it would have been more beneficial for viewers such as myself to get a chance to see his films first before offering critiques and questions. I did, however, listened to the numerous questions asked. Gauging from the audiences' line of questioning, I could sense that the majority of them were huge fans of Brakhage's work, as the questions were concerning his past works.  Before the showing of the films, the program also gave a very long, detailed, introduction to Mr. Brakhage's life. I thought this was a good way to introduce him to people who were foreign to his work, such as myself. As for the films, I found them to be very interesting. There were four different films: Sirius Remembered ,