Week 8 : Nanotechnology + Art

Nanotechnology has easily been the most fascinating unit so far in my opinion because of it’s potential to help society and what little we know of it. 

Starting with the first lecture, I was amazed by the STM, or Scanning Tunneling Microscope. The fact that we can combine scientific research and make a picture out of an atom artistically, which is something we can’t even see is incredible. Quantum dots as well really blew me away because when it comes down to it, we are creating a picture of energy at the most basic form. 

Aesthetically thinking, creating a picture from a movement (electrons/atoms in general), is fascinating because it links art and science, thus creating a third culture that was talked about during week one. 

The most encouraging thing I learned about this week however was regarding nanoshells. Nanoshells were discovered very recently by a team at Rice in 2003 and they have been linked to antibodies that recognize cancer cells. This discovery could lead to huge steps in cancer research which would progress society immensely.  Also, the fact that nanotechnology can be used to regenerate tissue and organs amazed me. By designing molecules with the capacity to self assemble into nano fibers, once the molecules injected into the body with a syringe they can regenerate cells of tissues and organs.

Overall, I was fascinated by nanotechnology and specifically the aspect that we cannot see the science behind atoms but we create artistic representations to help us conceptualize the science. I thought a lot about the MedTech unit in comparison to this one and I realized, the medical world specifically relies so much on artistically representations to make sense of the science. For example, in the fifth video this week when it talked about cervical cancer cells and their structure, Dr. Gimzewski broke down the structure of the cells and how form fits function. Therefore, if we can get a structure of a cell down to a consistent picture, then scientists can predict what it’s function will be.

I’m realizing more and more how art benefits science and I hope that others who live in the belief that sciences are “superior” realize that their models and representations are based upon artistic related concepts. 

Word Count: 375

Sources:

Boyd, Jade. "Nanoshell Therapy to Be Tested in Lung Cancer Clinical Trial." Rice University News & Media. 2 Nov. 2012. Web. 25 May 2015.

"The Scanning Tunneling Microscope." The Scanning Tunneling Microscope. Web. 25 May 2015.

Vesna, Professor Victoria. "Nanotech Jim Pt5." YouTube. YouTube. Web. 25 May 2015.

Vesna, Professor Victoria. "Nanotech Jim Pt6." YouTube. YouTube. Web. 25 May 2015.

"What Is Nanotechnology?" What Is Nanotechnology? Web. 25 May 2015.