Article 15 --- 5/2/2010

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/how-can-technology-help-the-environment.html

For the last blog post, I chose to focus on an issue that is a big part of our society today, the environment. The article that I chose to focus on this issue is by Gaynor Borade and entitled "How Can Technology Help the Environment?" As we have learned throughout the semester, science and technology are major factors that affect our society in many ways, positive and negative. One positive thing that science and technology has allowed us to do is try and make our environment a more healthy place to live in. Through the advancement in technology and the gained knowledge of many people in our society, we have found many new ways that help aid in cleaning up the atmosphere that we have greatly polluted. As stated in the article, certain factors are essential to making our environment a better place to live in and most all of these factors rely on the technology and science that we now have available to us. Such factors include: energy efficiency, "green" living, better fuel, among many others. Further, the article states that, "Technology and dedicated research can help us to manage and monitor energy consumption. This in turn will reduce the risks associated with a depleted ozone layer, health hazards that plaque our lifestyles and even carbon footprint." Modern technology has had a huge implication on how we do many things these days. People are more and more concerned with all of these things and Obama is even giving tax breaks to people that "go green." One of the biggest ways to conserve energy and make it as "clean" as possible is something that we have been doing for a long time, wind power and tidal (water) power. We run all of our power by tidal power at my lake house. These are just a couple of things among millions that can help our society make this world a better place, but we can only do this through the use of technology that we have been able to have through science. This was just another way that proves the fact that science, technology and society go hand-in-hand.

-Adam Traywick

Article 14 --- 4/25/2010

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/impact-of-technology-on-education.html

The article I chose to write on this week is entitled Impact of Technology on Education by Minali Oak. I think this is very important in understanding because I, as everyone else in this class, am a student trying to get my education and for the purpose of this course I believe this is good in knowing. The obvious way that technology has impacted education greatly over the years is the use of computers. I can still remember when there were no computers in school and you were lucky if you had one in the home. Computers have taken the work that we used to do manually and allowed, through complex programs, us to do things with the click of a button in seconds where 20 years ago it would have taken much longer. A prime example of this is this class. I have not seen, talked to, or been around any student in this class because of the use of computers and the internet. I can now talk to people that I have not seen since I graduated high school over the internet whenever I want. Computers have also made the business side of our society a great deal better. With power points and spreadsheets we have now, accounts, presentations, data, etc. can be utilized and better understood. These things have not only made business better but the classroom as well. Most any classroom you step into now have projector screens that fall from the ceiling which allow for more and clearer information on the board while the professor is talking instead of the old ways of having to write down every little thing. Has it spoiled us? Definitely, but I do think that it has had many positive effects. The article talks a lot about online education and how this has made for more learning. I love internet classes and think that they have helped me throughout college because, in many ways, it makes you be more responsible by having to teach yourself and stay on top of things in order to pass. Technology and education compliment each other nowadays more than ever and I think that it will only get better for our society.

-Adam Traywick

Article 13 --- 4/17/2010

http://ezinearticles.com/?Indispensable-Importance-of-Studying-and-Technology-and-Society&id=2269174

As we have been talking about all semester, science and technology play a huge role in our society. This article by Danish Muzaffar entitled Indispensable Importance of Studying Technology and Society studies this matter. Obviously, there would be no science and technology without society. As Muzaffar states, naturally society has the biggest say in any scientific or technological advancement. Our society also holds the final answer in deciding whether or not this technology is beneficial or not. I chose this article because it goes a long with the discussion question of my group this week and this article in some ways explains this. Muzaffar looks at this relationship from a slightly different angle then I have in my previous articles. He states that science is a field that grows relatively everyday and there is always an area that demands scientific intervention. And that is where the technology comes in. Without science, there would be no technology and without technology, our scientific research would be much more slim than it is today. When we take a step back and look at just how far we have come, it is amazing. Another example Muzaffar gives on the relationship between science, technology and society is the one of research dealing with animals. As he says, if there were no say in society, we might would have or eventually come to the point that instead of animals, we would one day be using human beings as research such as the nazis did during the reign of Hitler. He also goes to talk about how more and more jobs are requiring basic knowledge of the new advances in science and technology. Our world is changing so much every single day that if we don't stay on top of things, we can out date ourselves in a short period of time. Science and technology has not only been affected greatly by society but has also greatly affected society itself. One way this is true is DNA. Without science and technology the study of DNA would be impossible. I did not realize how much these three things affected each other as much as they do. Everything we do these days revolves around our society which is a product of science and technology.

-Adam Traywick

Article 12 --- 4/11/2010

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Relationship-Between-Science,-Technology,-and-Society&id=2295834

Appropriate for the purpose of this class obviously, I chose this article entitled The Relationship Between Science, Technology and Society written by Danish Muzaffar. This article was about how the relationship between science and technology has such a great effect on society and how society has an equally great effect on science and technology. As the article states, "Without society then there would be no science and technology." Considering this quote, this is actually the main reason that certain tools and equipment have aided in achieving many things. One of the things that science and technology has helped create is the computer which is the greatest thing that has happened since sliced bread. Anyone can agree with this statement because of the simple fact that it has helped make many things so much easier in our society. Computer among a vast amount of other things have been the result of science and technology. This also applies to the world as a whole, not only our society. The article states that: "The developing world has a long tradition of participatory action research, popular education and community organization joining up to solve some science and technology issues that effect the society." The relationship between science, technology and society is very undermined. Everything that we do and encounter on an everyday basis is the cause of the relationship between science, technology and society. The government has even began to intervene in this issue. We have began to fund certain things such as stem cell research and cloning. These are things that some would argue are unimportant and not worthy to spend as money as we have on, but no matter what your views are, it is amazing that through science and technology our society is able to do this. Our society has made huge bounds since the industrial revolution and we have used science and technology to create what our world is today, with the help of a certain person. Science and technology is a major part of the lives of our citizens in the country as well as citizens in other countries around the world. The relationship between science and technology is a very important one that we should not ignore. We have accomplished many new things and I believe there are many other things out there that are waiting to be discovered.

-Adam Traywick

Article 11 --- 4/4/2010

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/importance-of-science-and-technology.html

To follow up on my article 1o blog, this week I am going to talk about why science and technology is important to us (society) and some ways that it affects our lives. This article was written by Minali Oak and is entitled Importance of Science and Technology. As stated in the article "science and technology are closely linked aspects of society and the studies and developments in both science and technology are essential for the overall progress of society." Why is this important? Science and technology affect us in everyday living; from studying the different branches of science to space exploration and human genetics. These are all things that affect us in one way or another, some underlined and some not. Technology also plays a big role. Technology has had many positive affects on our society such as the advancement of bicycles into scooters and motorcycles as well as telephones and the internet. All of these things have had huge impacts on the way that we as humans live every day. It has revolutionized human life. Stated in the article, we also have a new way of grouping technology that has allowed for easier use of information; "Digitizing of information has been a major breakthrough in the world of information technology. It has made possible the compaction of information, which in turn allows efficient information storage." These are only a few things that are important to us as a society through science and technology. The most important benefit of science and technology is the ease it has brought to our lives. Our society has accomplished many things over the years, some have been advantageous and some have been disadvantageous. Through everything that we have been able to do, I believe that most everything has been for the good. Science and technology are both very important to our society and are also compliments of each other which go hand in hand.

-Adam

Article 10 --- 3/28/2010

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/definition-of-science-technology-and-society.html

Throughout the semester I have found articles and talked about science, technology and society without really knowing what it meant. So for this week, I am going to discuss what the definition of science, technology and society really is. This article is entitled Definition of Science Technology and Society written by Kir Figuereo. As Figuereo states in the opening lines of the article, “Science technology and society is the study of the impact that is made when science, technology and society combine. The combination of these fields has existed since the first inventions, such as the wheel, and continued throughout the years as the printing press and computers were created.” He then goes into defining science, technology and society separately. This was interesting because the three definitions that he gave all went together quite well. They also explained why we need each of these three things needed to work together when trying to do many things in everyday life. Speaking of everyday life, Figuereo then talks about something that is one of the biggest parts of our everyday life, the cell phone. He does this by stating, “Science and technology has impacted our society in such a large number of ways that its evidence is everywhere. Just think of the telephone, ever since it was invented society desired a more mobile way to communicate with people, hence the invention of the mobile phone.” This was interesting because the cell phone has become so many peoples in our country’s life. Everywhere you go someone is on the cell phone. But, this wouldn’t even have been possible without these three things together. This also can be said about e-mails. Nowadays, e-mail has taken over the source of mail for many Americans. It is quick and impersonal which is the way of much of our country now. No one really wants to deal face to face with someone else. This article was good because all through the semester, except for the book, what science technology and society is hasn’t really been discussed and it was interesting to see how much these three things really do work with each other.

-Adam

Article 9 --- 3/21/2010

http://scienceray.com/technology/applied-science/the-effects-and-influences-of-technology-on-society-and-human-kind/

This article is entitled The Effects and Influences of Technology on Society and Human Kind written by Roger Zhong. The article was about whether or not technology has been advantageous or disadvantageous to our society these days. Zhong started out by making a statement that sort of opened up the article in the direction his opinion supported, that technology has had negative affects on society. He started out by giving a definition of technology and its origins which is Greek that means " the practical application of knowledge especially in a particular area." He criticizes this definition because he thinks that "it lacks concrete meaning." His definition of technology is one that I agree with. This definition states that, "word used to collectively describe or portray the advancements, abilities, creations, undertakings, views, and knowledge of a singular group of persons: we as human kind." I agree with this definition because technology has obviously grew throughout the years, and that is because we as humans and a society have uncovered so many new things that has led to new and unimaginable lengths. One of the ways that Zhong says that technology has many disadvantageous affects on our society is that we have actually outdid ourselves with the technology; as in we depend on way too many things to work with the use of technology rather than human labor like years ago. For example, just a few years back, the internet did not exist and our country was very prosperous and we were hard working people. Zhong argues that the internet has actually made Americans more lazy and rely too much on things that we read and hear on the internet instead of real life situations. I really liked this article because it focused on many of the underlined problems we face now in our society that also goes hand in hand with what many solely rely on to get through the day, science and technology. I think we as a country sometimes need to really sit back and re-think some ways we approach new technological advances.

Discussion 8---3/7/2010

http://www.i-sis.org.uk/human.php

This is an article written by Angela Ryan entitled Being Human: Science, Ethics and Our Rights. This article is about certain issues that only science and technology can wholly contribute to and the ethics vs rights behind these issues. This is a big issue right now because there are many things in science we are trying to do that many think are morally and/or ethically wrong and some think these are things we need to be pursuing. The problem we face is the bias between what some people think is wrong and what some people think is right. Another problem we face is the difference in "old" science and "modern" science. Many scientists that are from earlier years of science have issues with some of the things that scientists now days think are right to pursue. Scientists Colin Tudge speaks about this at a conference by stating, "Scientists are also uneducated in the philosophy of science nowadays and this is a major shortcoming for our modern scientific world." One of the major issues Ryan discussed was that of human cloning. This is a very controversial issue between scientists today as well as the public. The problem that we face is no matter what may be right or wrong, our citizens are who really speaks out about these issues. Personally, I do not believe that we should try and clone humans. The problem I have with this is, if GOD wanted people to have clones, then he would have made us able to do this through regular births. I do not see the reason in cloning a human being and I, as most of our citizens, see it as morally and ethically wrong. I also have the same feelings about other things such as abortion. I do not believe in abortion and this also fits in that vice of whether or not it is right or wrong. This was an interesting article because it hit on many issues that we as a society need to bring to a head and resolve these issues.

-Adam Traywick

Article 7---2/28/2010

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2010/February/22021001.asp

The article I chose for this week is about funding science and budget cuts that science may be facing. The article was written by Anna Lewcock and entitled Funding Cuts Will "Damage A Generation" of Science. The article starts out by stating that cutting the budget cap on science is a bad idea. As stated in the article, "Cutting research budgets will harm science for an entire generation" is how the science world feels at this point. Not only will harm us from the progress we are making in certain areas that will not only better the US but the world in general. One of the areas they hit on was the fact that many aspiring scientists would loose interest in the field if there were budget cuts. This is because most of the projects that require a budget are very expensive, especially things such as cancer. This was better explained in the article by a nobel prize winner scientist Peter Agre by saying, "When we have booms in scientific funding, young people devote their careers to this, and then we have busts and they can't pay the rent." This is very true.

The article next talks about how science functions on an international basis and the funding that each country receives directly influences many other countries in the world. The US deals heavily with other powerhouses such as France, Germany and the UK. The UK is currently experiencing budget cuts and their economy is in about the same situation it was in before the cuts. The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) furthers explores this by stating, "we should be investing in UK science to create sustainable employment and re balance our economy, instead of making damaging cuts which will have no discernible impact on the national debt."

I believe that we should continue to fund science, but only to a certain extent. Projects that really don't do much for society should not be funded nearly as heavily as projects that have a great influence on how our society functions.

Discussion 6---2/21/2010

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/articles/karle/index.html

This article was by Jerome Karle entitled The Role of Science and Technology in Future Design. The article was about how design in science has affected technology and society throughout the developing years of our country. He does this by focusing mostly on basic science and the support it gets from government funds. He explains how science is one of the most important tools for a normal functioning and growing society. He did research to find out if science was just as important to society as it was the government. To me, his results were surprising. He found that although the government and some private organizations heavily fund science in our society, the greatest amount of support was from public funds. Although this was a surprising find, it also makes me feel good that our society does focus on our scientific efforts enough to have that great of a support base. On the other hand, science has introduced some problems such as, but not limited to, religion issues. For obvious reasons I am not going into detail, but science has brought along many ideas that has steered this country away from what we were founded on. This is appropriate to discuss because it involves science, technology and society.

He then goes onto explain the different ways that our society has helped aid our scientific advances. As Karle explains, one of the most important ways we have done this is "through the technology that fundamental research generates." This is important because everything we have been able to accomplish and find is through the aid of science and the scientists that are involved. Karle also goes onto explain that the most evident reason society does this is because the return on expenditures is greater than the actual moneys spent.

He concludes the article by stating "there is no question that science and society will continue to co-evolve." The only things that will hold us back is funding. This was a very interesting article because is covered so many topics that really focused the role of how our society relates to science.

-Adam Traywick

Article 5 --- 2/13/2010

http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/cnews/article.php/3863106/Microsoft-to-Help-Scientists-With-Free-Azure-Use.htm

This article written by Stuart J. Johnston entitled Microsoft to Help Scientists With Free Azure Use is about a new type of Microsoft program that allows free access to members of certain science organizations such as, NASDAQ: MSFT and the NSF, among others to help aid in more efficient ways of organizing data. As stated in the article, "the variety of sheer volume of data collected by scientific researchers has grown exponentially in recent years;" this is one of the reasons that they are allowing scientists to accss this software for free. I think that this is a good idea considering most people probably dont know what Microsoft Azure is. Science has become one of the most prominent studies in America and allowing for free software to help with these studies is a good idea. The con of this idea, as stated by the article is like anything else, it "is an enormous and expensive task in itself." With our economy in the shape it is in right now, this could pose a possible problem. That just means more and more of our tax dollars would be going to something else that is not necessarily going to bring this country out of the predicament we are in. But, everything has its pros and cons, we just need to find out if we will benefit from this more than we would hurt. Another thing that may pose a problem with this idea is that all you have to do access this software is by "applying to the NSF with a supplemental request for an already-funded project." Allowing anyone that is conducting a project that is funded to apply for the software allows for many to take advantage of this opportunity. There needs to be tight stipulations to this project for it to work well, but I do think it could work for the better.

-Adam Traywick

Article 4---2/7/2010

http//:www.ifets.info/journals/12_3/13.pdf


This article entitled Reflections of Students in Their Use of Asynchronous Online Seminars is a study on the reflections of students taking online classes and how much they did or did not like them. It also examines to what extent a student actually learns compared to traditional classes with face-to-face interactions. The study showed that students actually learned just as much if not more than they would in a traditional classroom. The article states, "A key reason for the use of technology within a learning situation is to enhance the quality of learning and teaching." I agree with this. I have taken many online classes, including this one, and I really like them. I think it allows a student to still have the opportunity to learn and better themselves but without having to go sit in a classroom. I also think that it makes you a better student. This being the case because although you dont have to go to a classroom, you still have deadlines you have to meet. It makes the student stay on top of things and be a responsible student. Online classes have many pros and cons. But, overall I believe that taking an online class makes you a more rounded student because it makes you a more rounded student being that you have to stay on top of not only going to class, but also completing your online work.

-Adam Traywick

Article 3---1/31/2010

http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/darwins-world-of-pain-and-wonder

This is an article by Algis Valiunas entitled Darwin’s World of Pain and Wonder. Valiunas starts out by talking about a very controversial subject, religion. He begins the article by comparing science with reality and the very contrasting views that go along with this subject. He states that while Darwinism has a huge following, there are many other beliefs around the world. He brings science and society together by allowing for the fact that many of the religions studied are hinged on science and the fact that our societies are very diverse across the globe. Darwin was a very bright young man and due to his upbringing, he was taught to think outside the box and that he did. As everyone knows, he is who came up with the idea of evolution. This is a very contentious subject considering Christianity was the predominant religion in this time. It is said that everything can be proved or disproved through science. Personally, I don’t believe this. I understand that this class is not a religion class, but this topic does bring science, technology and society together. I am a Christian and believe in Christ. My neighbor may be a follower of Darwin and believe in evolution. He or she may also believe that this can proved through research and science. There are many studies on this where many believe that we can trace our entire lineage back to Africa through studying DNA. Technology has came a very long way since the times of Darwin and has helped in reshaping many of our oldest beliefs in society. I am very happy that we have been able to come as far as we have through science and technology, but I do not believe that it is the answer to everything. Although we have been able to solve some of nature’s oldest mysteries, some things can only be taught through others, i.e. our society. There are many ways that science, technology and society come together but this may be the most underlined approach. For this reason, I chose this article to talk about.

-Adam Traywick

Article 2---1/24/2010

http://www.helium.com/items/1496810-the-impact-of-technology-on-society

This is an article by Kathy Clark Smith entitled Technology's Impact on Society. She starts out by talking about how she saw a commercial for a country that had no clean water, hardly any medical treatment, poverty and disease infested and little technological advances. What she was fascinated by though was that they were seemingly just as happy as we are here in America with everything we could imagine right at our fingertips. She then goes on to explain how in many ways all the technology we have does make certain things easier but it allows us to communicate without any form of actual interaction between each other. All of these things we have are thought of as making us happier in many different ways, but it doesn’t always do that. Smith adds to this as she starts the article by stating, “We have the advantage of accessible technology that is supposed to make our lives easier, but I don't think it has made it better.” I agree with her statement. I do feel very blessed to be able to do the things I can do with the access to the technology we have, but that doesn’t always mean happiness. Since I am in college and away from home, I am sometimes forced to talk on the cell phone or internet to family members and some close friends. It makes me realize the importance of one on one interaction. I think that it is very important to have a more personal relationship with people that you are friends with. I do think that it is perfectly fine to have relationships over the internet or by the use of cell phones. We are very blessed as a country to have what we have. I think many of us, including myself, take great advantage of the things we have. Just the other day my 8 year old cousin came to my house and had a cell phone. That is a little ridiculous in my opinion but, that is what our society has become. Technology is great but I think we should use these things in moderation and be thankful for what we are able to have.

-Adam Traywick

Article 1---1/17/2010

http://www.techsoc.com/complexity.htm

This is an artilce by Melanie Mitchell entitled Complexity: A Guided Tour. She starts by comparing complex computer systems to the human body. She explains the comparisons of computer systems to the human body by stating that there is much similarity between the two because although we know much about computers and the human body, there are still things that go on inside of the two that are just amazingly complex. She also compares this to be connected to science. Since science is how we gather much of our information about many different things through research and development, scientific studies and just diagnosing questions and trying to answer these questions. She then goes on to explain her view of the word complexity and how it is related to algorithms. She explains that an algorithm is a "set of steps, or recipe, a person or computer can follow to complete a task. She gives an example about a robot that has to go around a room and pick up random cans without running into anything.
Lastly, she looks at complexity as a science. She does think that complexity is a science but not what one would usually consider when they hear the word science.
I believe this was an interesting article in that it put a totally different spin on the way we look at these types of complex systems. I have never though about comparing a computer system with that of the human immune system but really does correlate. We have come a long way from just a few years ago with computers and how they affect our society. Prior to this article, when I thought about science, the things that came to mind were velocity, mass, force, energy, etc. But, now when I hear the word science a much broader definition comes to mind in which it deals with most all things we encounter today.

-Adam Traywick