Mike Stark

When I read the web of life i realized that all around us is made up of systems, big and small. The article first talks about how there is a new view on the world, They call this new view a holistic view on the world. This means we see the world as a whole not as a bunch of various parts. I think this is true now within the enviroment that we live becuase we no longer ask does this affect this one part but we also ask does it affect the whole. We have moved to a new way of thinking. We no longer wonder what one part of a machine can do for us, but we also look to see what that machine can do for us as a whole. This idea could be translated into the business world where companies try not to focus on the individual parts but try to see th company as a whole and make the whole thing work smoothly and efficienctly.
The article goes on to talk about how the world can also be looked at as a ecological view. This is very similar to the holistic view but with and ecological view you also see how something is embedded in its natural and social environment. When looking at the world through an ecological view you ask yourself questions about how systems and other aspects of the world around us are part of the nature and enviroment as a whole. When you are viewing the world ecologically you ask deeper questions on how something makes up or is part of a nature. You might ask how an atom is broken down, and then what happens at a subatomic level. You would then ask how is this embedded within nature and the social enviroment.
The third item the article talks about is the idea of ethics within our develipoing sciences. It first talks about how scientists no longer feel like they are under the same ethics as the rest of us. They say chemist continually polute our enviroment, physicists are building weapons that can destroy us and the enviroment, and other scientists torturing animals for scientific research. I see where the writer is coming from when he talks about how scientists are not respecting ethics in this day and age becuase the hot topics now in science are stem cell research and cloning.

In both cases the scientists are messing with the enviroment in a way in which they should not be. When we see them doing this though we find ourselves asking the question with the experiments and dicoveries they are performing are they possibily helping us by maybe finding the cure for a disease, or is the ethics they break while doing it to much of a risk? Ethics has become very important in the web of life. It can be associated with all aspects.
Another idea that the article talks about is the various systems in which have within our enviroment. We have so many systems but not all of them are safe to our enviroment. There is a large movement towards sustainability. This means we would build more efficient buildings and other systems in our enviroment that. I think this is a good idea becuase I think this will help the scientists who many are concerned with ethics become more aware of the affects of their actions on the enviroment. Sustainable building or some call it green design could greatly help our enviroment. We would be wasting less materials, and reusing the materials we usually jsut toss to the side. The idea of sustainability could strengthen the web of life because it would not be breaking it down, it would be bringing it back together by reusing aspects of it.
The article ends with telling us that the web of life is basically networks within networks. The networks are small and big, but everything consists of networks. I think this is important to understand becuase it helps us see how things are made up and in the end could help us figure out how it works within other networks. I also think that if we can figure out the various networks of one item we can compare it to the networks of other materials and find more connections that could help us produce a whole new network. An example I think of when talking about networls would be the idea of Biomimicry. They take the networks that make up a animal or other part of nature and use that network and apply it to another network to make something new that can help the web of life as a whole. An example would be taking spider silk to make a bullet proof vest. It shows how within the web of life we are all connected through the various networks that make us up.

Posted by Mike Stark at 8:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

One technology that has greatly affected the world and nature is the cell phone. It started out as a means for people to get a hold of people for help. At first the cell phone was rarley seen, people could not afford it or it was jsut to big and bulky for people to lug around. The very first cell phones also did not get very good reception, so many jsut used pay phones. Many changes came about due to cell phones. We went from a society that relied on land lines and pay phones, to a society who could talk to anyone anywhere, at anytime. The cell phone started big and bulky, but now its shrunk to sizes that are small enough to slide into your pocket and you don't even know its there. The phones aslo have strengthened there reception. You can go most places now and recieve and make phone calls. Cell phones have changed the way we communicate. With the advances in cell phones, brought a new form of communication. We now can not only talk to people, but you can text people, which has become an easier way to communicate with people. Text has become a new form of communication. For many its easier to text then to actually call someone. IN some respects it has made phone conversations somewhat uncomfortable becuase you could easily just text and get the same result in a less personal way.

Since the creation of the cell phone there have been many winners. The winners are us. We are now able to connect one another anytime we want. Before we had to be near a land line, now its as easy as 1,2,3. The cell phone companies have been winners also. Almost everyone has a cell phone these days, which means the cell phone companies are bringing in the big bucks. The cell phones have created some losers though as well. The land line phone companies have suffered no becuase rarely do people use their home phones now, becuase they all can call each other on their cell phones for free. Pay phones have also suffered. You don't see them around much anymore becuase they are rarley needed, and the prices for pay phones has risen greatly which makes people want to use them even less.
The cell phone has also hurt many other types of products like mp3 players and cameras becuase you can now buy cell phones with all these capabilities that are jsut as good as some of the mp3 and cameras out there. Cell phones have allowed people to share, listen, and see more pictures and music then they ever were able to do. Now cell phones have so many features that you can ask your cell phone to give you exact directions to a certain location from where you are, and it can do it because it has GPS in it.
I think that cell phones have changed the way in which we look at communication now. We see communication as somethin easy. We can do it in the blink of an eye, and we can do it for cheap. I also do not think its possible to limit or redirect the influence of cell phones becuase they are going to consistently get smaller and more efficent for our use. I think they can only benefit us, and our methods of communication.
The cell phone has come a long way since its first model, but as its progressed through time it has become a vital technology to our society and technoloply.

Posted by Mike Stark at 10:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Every building around us, in one way needed math to help plan and construct it. From the dimensions of the building to the measuring of the corridors within the building all needed math to calculate these values. Math also goes into the drawing ot the building or design. You need math to calculate symmetry in a design or to keep things to scale. This is evident in the image below. You need math to design these images becuase they are so symmetrical

Another place in design where you can find math would be with water parks. You need math to figure out how much you can make the park water fun and how much is for those who want to jsut sit in the sun. Math helps plan the design of how big the pools will be or how much water is needed. It also is used to make a safe, sturdy design for the water slides. This is all shown in the image below. The park is all math. everystep you take, or every slide you go down had math applied to its design.

Another place in design where you can find math and design side by side is in the building of houses. Houses come in all shapes and sizes but they all need math to figure out how much of certain materials is needed to hold it up. You need to know how many shingles for your roof, or you'll have leaks when it rains. All this is figured out with math. Another example is like the one below. If your house is built on stilts you need to calculate with math how much reinforcement you need to keep it up off the ground. You cannot jsut guess becuase you will probably end up guessing wrong and your house will come crashing down.

All design in one way will need math, so its best to know it or your building will fall down!

Posted by Mike Stark at 11:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)