The last lesson!

Today is the last session of Technology and World Change module. I have learnt a lot during the course. When I attended the first session of this module, I know hardly anything about technology, its development and its impacts on human lives. In the first session, I was exposed to the historical timeline of technology and the role of human civilization with technology emergence. The session was really important because it brought to me basic knowledge for the whole course. Then through each class, I really broaden my knowledge on this field. I have learnt about industrial development, biobusiness technology, energy revolution and many more interesting topics. Although these technology developments have been around, without this Technology and World Change class, I will have never known all these information.

Today is also our group’s presentation. We decided to do the topic of vaccines because vaccine is one of the most significant innovations of the world in medical field. Before the invention of vaccine, the level of mortality due to serious pandemics and infectious diseases was really high. It was only until 1796 that the first vaccine was invented by Edward Jenner. This first vaccine creation was the foundation of vaccine development. After the first invention, many more vaccines were developed to protect people from variable diseases.

In the future, for the industry to grow, there have to be drivers. Despite high standard of living, human still have to face many serious pandemics and diseases around the world. And rapid growth of population put pressure on producers to provide sufficient quantity of vaccine for the population. Therefore, companies and societies need to invest in R&D to invent new vaccines to prevent human from potential diseases. There is also technology driver of vaccine development. The draft of human genome mapping was finished in 2003, brings deeper understanding about human body and can be a lead to vaccine innovations in the near future. Nanotechnology and genetic technology will also contribute to the development of vaccine. In the future, we will have needle-free, pain-free method of vaccine delivery. There are two possible new methods: Nanopatch and edible vaccine. Using nanotechnology, Nanopatch comprises arrays of densely packed projections. Edible vaccine is a vaccine in which an antigenic protein is engineered into an edible plant. After ingestion, the protein is uncloaked and recognized by the immune system. New vaccine delivery methods will brings a lot of benefits to human life because they reduce cost of delivery, reduce risk of needle injuries and make vaccines more accessible.

Although my group has put a lot of effort to the website and the content, we still have to research more on future possibilities of vaccines such as cancer vaccines and therapeutic vaccines.

To sum up everything, I can not expect more or ask for more from class. Each week is truly an enlightenment for me on different field of technology. But the course is not only about technology but it also focuses on how technology can create a sustainable and equal future for the world. Moreover, the course also builds me a habit of reading technology news, which is really helpful and help me to be more up-to-date with developments.

Finally, I rated today session and the whole course 10 out of 10. I wish that the course lasted longer!

Week 12

“You know more than you think you know, just as you know less than you want to know.” – Oscar Wilde

Today is the first session of group presentations. Topics that my classmates’ groups choose are wide-ranged from e-commerce, kinetic technology, GM food to finding love online. All of these topics are elaborated in depth and in detail. Groups also put a lot of effort on their websites.

With the presentation on online love, I get a lot of new information about this interesting field. Because I have never tried any love finding online website, the presentation really helps me to understand more about the business.

Kinetic techonology brings to me a comprehensive understanding about future technology which can really bring changes to how the world will generate energy in the future.

Last but not least, the presentation on GM food also bring depth understanding to me. As I talked about GM food for my individual presentation, I can see that the group has put great effort to research on the topic and actually give me some new information about GM food. Genetically modified food is food derived from genetically modified organism which the genetic material (DNA) has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally

Crop can be genetically modified to be more nutrious, have bigger sizes or pest & insect resistant. The articles focuses on genetically modified seeds which are created to lock insecticide chemicals into the structure of plant cells to make them less attractive to the insects which want to eat them.

There are 3 main advantages of growing GM plant. First, GM crop produce higher crop yield since its gene is resistant to insect. The tradtional method of using insecticide is not as effective because insecticide is often spread unevenly around the crop field. But when insecticide chemicals are inserted in plants’ genes, it assure the effectiveness of insect resistance and therefore, the crop yield is improved. Second, GM plants help protect environment. It saves waters and also protect soil from absorbing toxic chemicals from pesticide. Moreover, growing GM plants reduces the amount of tilling that leads to soil erosion. Third, by growing insect-resistant plants, farmers do not have to dirrectly contact with pesticide which is really harmful. Having said that, people should be careful when they produce GM food to make sure that it is safe for consumption.

In conclusion, I rated this class session 9/10 because all presentations are prepared thoroughly and give me new understanding about wide ranged issues.

Technology assessment and forecasting

“Change is the law of life”-John F Kennedy

As we are going to last lessons, the topic focuses more and more towards the future. Technology, after all, is invented to create better future for human kind.

In today lesson, Prof shows some videos that illustrate many possible developments in the future in different fields. Changes are happening everywhere in some main megatrends. There are potential developments in communication, new sources of energy, new methods to create friendlier environment in the social context that more and more buildings and factories are built. Augmented reality can also bring a lot of benefits to daily life. Possibilities are at everywhere, in every field around the world and people are preparing, investing to create a better future. So how can we get the best out of potential development?

But the crucial thing when people develop technology is that we need a clear vision. So why do we need a vision? “Look before or you will see yourself behind” Benjamin Franklin.

Foresight helps companies and countries to use the full potential of new technology and develop in the right track. Because possibilities are at everywhere, focus is the key to develop. We have to understand and acknowledge the current situation, where are gaps, what have to be better. Then we need to think about the vision, what we want to have in the future. Then look at the current situation and the future and have investment to innovate, invent to make the future vision come true. We also have to differentiate between long term and short tem innovations in order to distribute investments.

In order for technology to develop and serve human need, we need need to gain an understanding of what kinds of changes a tech can bring and decide whether and when to invest in R&D. Because R&D requires large financial investment, the government has to consider carefully about what field to invest on. Government has to understand what is the technology that will bring most value to society, is that agriculture, or health care, or renewable energy...

Analyzing the future potential of technologies so that we can take advantage of existing technologies to create the future and to know whether any technology can be invented to make the situation better. Some factors can motivate future technology are policies, network building, public engagement…

There are also many methodologies to achieve future vision. SWOT analysis: a strategic planning method used to evaluate strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats involved in applying or discovering a technology. SWOT analysis involves specifying the objective of the technology and identifying internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieve the vision of future. SWOT analysis is really important because it helps people to decide whether they should invest in the technology, which technology goes with each other and whether it helps us to create the future vision.

Topics for further dicussion:

1. What technology worths most investment in Singapore now?
2. We talk a lot about technology’s role in the world development. Will there be any possibilities that technology can destroy the world?

Personal rating: 9/10. As I have gone through all lessons, I find classes are more and more interesting. I learn about new perspectives, new possibilities and overall, how many wonderful things technology brings to the world.

The Future

“Imangination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, whicle imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”

- Albert Einstein

Nowadays, changes are the only certain thing. So what should we expect in the future? What will our imagination take us to? These are questions which were discussed in class today.

Why the world keeps changing and developing new technology? There are many drivers motivate future technology. First, since people always want to make lives easier and more convenient, people want more advanced and interactive technologies. For example, When there are needs in the market, companies will try to take the opportunity to develop new products. Second, there is also technology driver that lead to new development and possibilties. Iphone and Ipad are good examples for technology driver. People only need a mobile phone to keep contact with others when they go out. Customers did not expect or think about something like Iphone before since they do not really have need for a new kind of mobile phone. But when Iphone was introduced due to advanced technology developed by Apple, people started trying Iphone and eventually, Iphone becomes indispensable for many people. Iphone creates its own market and becomes the most popular mobile phone in the world. Although technology drivers need much investment and time to be developed, they actually create many possibilities. When a new technology is developed without market driver, people will look at it in many perspectives and can come up with more possibilities to apply the techonology. That being said, whatever the driver is, the most important thing for future technology development is people’s desire and determination to turn imagination into reality. People must dare to imagine, but more important, dare to act, to innovate new things.

Some new emerging technologies

Nanotechnologies:

Make new products possible. Arrange carbon in new ways to create sth new. One example of nanotechnology which I research for the group project is nanopatch. It is a new way of vaccine delivery. Nanopatch is a needle-free, pain-free method of vaccine delivery. The Nanopatch comprises arrays of densely packed projections with a defined geometry and distribution designed to physically target vaccines directly to thousands of epidermal and dermal antigen presenting cells. These miniaturized arrays are two orders of magnitude smaller than standard needles and are also much smaller than current microneedle arrays.

Using needles to deliver vaccines is popular worldwide. While this method is efficient and does not bring about problems in cites, it is really not an effective way to distribute vaccines to countryside and remote areas. The application of nanopatch will make transportation easier. Because the Nanopatch requires neither a trained practitioner to administer it nor refrigeration, it has enormous potential cheaply deliver vaccines. Moreover, nanopatch-delivered vaccines do not need refrigeration like traditional vaccines. Therefore, in the time of wars or pandemics, vaccines will be more accessible to remote areas since the cost of transportation is lower and vaccines are easily stored.

Augmented reality:

This technology is also mentioned in a presentation today. The future for this technology is promising since it creates interactive and real life situations. First, augmented reality is already used in computer games to create more interesting and real environment for players. Second, this technology is also applied in mobile phone application. By using augmented reality, GPS and camera, smart phones can identify where you are and then give directions or provide information about restaurants, shops around. This application will grow significantly in the future because of its convenience and effective interactions with users. Third, augmented reality can be applied interactive teaching and learning. Since the technology enables students to see events vividly as real life, they will have better learning experience.

Issues for further discussion:

-          Would advanced technology will make people too dependent on internet and equipment?

-          Is there any limitation of possibilities that humans can attain?

Personal rating:

I rate today lession 9 out of 10 because class is interesting and give me a lot of information about future technology development.

World Change and Energy Revolution

“If everyone consumed as much energy as the average Singaporean and US resident, the world’s oil reserves would be depleted in 9 years”

Energy is indispensable in human lives nowadays. From the time human know how to use energy, the demand for energy is growing significantly. People need energy in their daily activities, companies need energy to manufacture products… Coal and oil are two dominant sources to produce energy. The graph about global primary energy consumption showed in class illustrates a continual increase in oil and coal consumption in 25 consecutive years. People are using oil and coal to produce energy since they are cheap and accessible sources. However, in order to ensure energy security, people have to look for alternative sources to produce energy.

There are many drivers of global energy change. First, population growth and the global economic development make the world’s energy consumption increase dramatically. People are facing with the problem of resource exhaustion as a result of excessive consumption. At the same time, people also have to concern about energy distribution among countries. Developed countries are using high amount of energy while in some parts of the world, people can not access to electricity or lack energy to maintain production. Second, countries are trying to become more sustainable. Countries now are aware of the importance of sustainable development, countries and organizations are investing more to find new technology, new energy resources. Developed countries are investing in green sources of energy for a long time and big developing countries are catching up fast in the progress. China is now the world largest investment of $ 48 billion investment on alternative energy. This shows China’s focus on sustainable development and its strategic plan to provide enough energy for its large population. Last but not least, new technology and approaches is also technology driver of global energy changes. As advanced technology is available, people can consider new possibilities, new approaches to attain sustainability.

Still, the main question is “Is it possible to be energy green?” People are using wind power, solar power and water power to generate energy. But are natural resources enough to provide energy for growing demand of the world? Astonishingly, the answer is yes. Prof tells us one fact in class that is truly surprising. He said the amount of energy produced in one hour by the sun is equal to the energy human produce in 1 year. Therefore, there are so many possibilities to be more sustainable in energy production. We have to discover new tech to capture more solar energy. If we find effective method to combine renewable method, it is more than enough to meet the world demand. The government should create right incentives for companies and citizens to change to green energy. For example, in one video showed class, German government is encouraging its citizen to use solar panels for energy supply. Despite the fact that German has relative small amount of sunshine, German government finds benefits in using solar energy. It is said that if people invest on solar panels, consequently most solar energy owners have benefits.  We are also introduced about solar plant in desert and solar farming. All are possibilities for people to be independent of energy supply.

All things considered, the only problem remains is whether we are determined to be energy green. It is not easy to achieve energy sustainability but with the combined efforts of governments and socities, sooner or later, human can be independent of energy sources.

Personal rating: 9/10 The lesson is interesting and brings to me a lot of insights on green engery production. Interesting and informative videos also make the lesson more fun.

Technology and Environment, Agriculture

“When we are able to grow the resources we need, we will finally be on the road to sustainability.” – Gurinder Shahi

The world is growing really fast today, may be too fast. We are using massive amount of raw materials every day for production and consumption. Much of the raw materials are non renewable resources such as fossil fuel, wood… If we continue consume non renewable resources even at reducing amount, sooner or later we will have to face the shortage of resources. Prof points out this problem today in class and I think it is an up-to-date problem of society. As Prof suggests, the only way for human to attain sustainability is to grow our own resources. In fact, technology advance is enabling human to do that. People are developing different sources for energy, different ways of growing food thank to biotechnology advance.

                                                                                                                        

Controversial topics in agribiology:

-          Agribiology vs Agribiotechnology

-          Farmer of farmist

-          Growing food vs growing energy resources:

In order to provide enough energy for industries, people take a lot of efforts to produce energy. People are taking farming land to create energy resources. But that action is followed by the shortage of farming land. The increase in price of food shows that people are taking too much valuable farm land to grow energy resources and therefore food is becoming scarce.  We need to provide enough food first hand and also produce energy for economic growth. How to balance between food and energy? We have to find new method of managing land, use it more productively and effectively.

-          GM or not GM:

GM food is a revolutionary innovation of biotechnology. Plants are genetically modified to be more nutritious, have bigger sizes or resistant to pest and insects. GM food has many advantages. It reduces soil erosion, protects environment and farmers’ health. Moreover, GM plants reduce production cost and produce higher crop yield. GM plants are even considered as the way to provide enough food for the world since it is an effective way of growing food for growing population.

However, as I mentioned in my presentation, GM food brings about potential risks to human health. Scientists should conduct more researches to figure out whether all GM food is safe for human because health is a serious issue. If GM food adversely affects health, consumers must be informed and protected. Moreover, the government also has to be more responsible and concern more about the consumption of GM food. GM food needs suitable regulations and labeling system so that customers can choose what they want to eat.

Food security:

According to FAO – Food and Agriculture Organization, food security is a condition where all people at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. As the population is growing fast and the gap of rich and poor is larger and larger, food security becomes increasingly important issue. With less land and bigger population size, how can we manage to feed all people in the world? In order to attain the goal of food security, there are many areas have to be changed for the better. Biotechnology will enable human to provide enough food for everyone since biobusiness is still in the “valley opportunities.” Disruptive innovations in biotechnology will create new ways of production with higher efficiency so that people can develop to the summit of biobusiness landscape.

Personal rating:

9/10. Today class is really interesting since the topic agriculture is really relevant to daily lives. And I have my first individual presentation in SMU.

Topics for further discussion:

1. Should society replace GM food with organic food?
2. Is GM food is dispensable to provide food security?

Biobusiness revolution

There are only two ways to live your life. 

One is as though nothing is a miracle.

The other is as though everything is a miracle.

- Albert Einstein -

Summary:

Biobusiness is commercial activities based on an understanding of life sciences and life science processes. Biobusiness is relatively a new kind of business but it has been developing at such a fast pace. It has already constituted 25% global GDP. This fascinating development indicates that biobusiness has a lot of potential and it can change human lives in many fields such as biomedical, environment…  Among many biobusiness sectors, the market size of health care is large, especially in the United States. It is evident that the more society develops, the more people concern about their health care. According to the table of global biobusiness market size in 2001 that Prof shows us in class, US health care market size in 2001 is more than a half of global market size. However, Prof points out the problem that health care investment is mostly spent on extending last few years of lives rather than on providing proper health care for young generation. This can be a serious issue for countries which are having or will have aging population since the health care expense will be such a big burden. Prof also gives class details about health care revolution. Nowadays, more and more medicines and vaccines are invented to cure or prevent people from suffering diseases.

Key takeaway points:

Immortality

One presentation in class today brings back the topic of immortality. It is an interesting topic because as the technology is more and more advanced, people now can think about mortality not as a fiction but non-fiction topic. The science base is that technology advances can enable people to produce some pharmaceutical that can reactivate telomere production in the cells. It is possible that in the near future, people can actually choose whether they want to live their lives forever. Interestingly, although the idea of mortality is fascinating, not many people in class want to be immortal. In the view of individuals, lives are only meaningful when you have limited time so that you appreciate what you experienced. In the view of society, immorality is actually a serious problem. If people are immortal, the population can not be controlled and natural resources can not be enough to satisfy human needs.

Moral hazard

Moral hazard arises when an individual or institution does not take the full consequences and responsibilities of its actions, and therefore has a tendency to act less carefully than it otherwise would, leaving another party to hold some responsibility for the consequences of those actions. Moral hazard is an issue in health insurance industry. People who buy health insurance are less responsible since they have already paid for the services, they have incentives to ask for more health services than necessary. This action can lead to escalation in the health care cost and waste of time and resources.

Issues for further discussion:
1. Should society invest on searching for immortality method or should it invests only on health care services?

2. How the health care revolution can ensure the access of health care for everyone?

Personal rating:

8.5/10