Week 9 Space + Art

I have always been fascinated by space. However, it was only when I visited Iceland last summer that I got to witness the artistic beauty of space. The dancing lights of the aurora, better known as the northern lights or Aurora borealis, are formed due to collisions between gaseous particles in the earth’s atmosphere with charged particles from the suns atmosphere. I had only seen pictures of the northern lights before, but as we were in our car driving the sky began to turn green, and I felt like I was in a painting. The northern lights were a natural occurrence of art and science and it was truly beautiful.

It was not until 1960 that an actual image of earth was captured by a Russian satellite (Miller, 2013). It is extremely interesting to look at artists depictions of what earth looked like before an image of earth was widely available for people to see. Everyone knew what the shapes of the continents were but artists still had to accurately depict earth’s cloud cover to make their paintings realistic. The similarity between the paintings and what earth looks like is truly remarkable.

Painting by Chesley Bonestell, 1956

Anthropocentricity is a philosophical viewpoint that argues that humans are the center of the Universe. Looking back through history to analyze how theories about space were accepted, teaches us a lot about our anthropocentric nature. The Church believed in geocentricism, implying that the earth was at the center of the universe. Aristarchus (c. 310-230 B.C.) was probably the first to suggest that the earth orbits the sun. Copernicus (1473-1543) then begun the Copernican revolution, seriously challenging the geocentric paradigm (Benett, 2010). However it was not until 1822, that the Church officially agreed with the heliocentric theory (Long, 2008). It is extremely interesting to note that evidence for a heliocentric world had been there for over two millennia, yet an authority figure like the Church could suppress an idea so revolutionary.

The geocentric model of our solar system

 References

Bennett, Jeffrey O. The Cosmic Perspective. Boston: Addison-Wesley, 2010. Print.

Long, Tony. "Sept. 11, 1822: Church Admits It's Not All About Us." WIRED. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2015. <http://archive.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/09/dayintech_0911>.

Miller, Ron. "How Artists Once Imagined the Earth Would Look from Space." Io9. N.p., Mar. 2013. Web. 29 May 2015. <http://io9.com/how-artists-once-imagined-the-earth-would-look-from-spa-455728227>.

"Northern Lights." Or Aurora Borealis Explained. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2015. <http://www.northernlightscentre.ca/northernlights.html>.

Vesna, Victoria. "8 Space Intro 1280x720." YouTube. YouTube, July 2013. Web. 29 May 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dPAmpBiVHY>.

Week 8 Nanotech + Art

The Almighty Artist created the world with several shades and colors. The intricacy of nature is both enrapturing and enigmatic. Today, advancements in nanotechnology have helped us better understand the art we see in nature everyday. While the image below looks like a painting of an erupting volcano, it is actually an image of the underside of a single scale on a butterfly wing (Carstairs, 2012). The scale is approximately 60 microns wide, and the image is taken by a scanning microscope. Structurally, the  design provides both strength and flexibility to the butterfly wings. Yet, it is also an artistic masterpiece. The scale allows visible light to pass through, enabling it to appear transparent. Even through there are thousands of overlapping scales, with a network of nerves and veins, the entire thing looks invisible.

Single scale on a butterfly wing

The applications of understanding unique nano structures in nature are remarkable. In his online lecture, Professor Gimzewski, talks about the nano structure of a Gecko’s foot hair. The feet hair have spectacular adhesive structure. One square meter of gecko tape could support the weight of 1 kilogram (Gimzewski, 2013). Scientific applications of this are still evolving, but who knows; maybe one day humans will actually be able to climb walls.

A greater introspection of nanotechnology and art may be very relevant on a philosophical level. Dan Brown’s infamous novel, Angels and Demons, entails a riveting plot about nanotechnology experiments being conducted at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), and the discovery of anti-matter has great implications for both religion and science. While the story is entirely fictional, CERN is not. Experiments being conducted at CERN currently, can help answer big questions about hidden forces in nature (O’Luanaigh, 2015) that both religion and science have speculated about for centuries.

CERN Particle Accelerator

References

Brown, Dan. Angels & Demons. New York: Atria, 2003. Print.

Carstairs, Iain. "When Nanotechnology Meets Art." ScienceAndReligioncom. N.p., 20 Apr. 2011. Web. 21 May 2015. <https://iaincarstairs.wordpress.com/2011/04/20/when-nanotechnology-meets-art/>.

Gimzewski. "Nanotech Jim Pt3." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 21 May 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=425&v=X0HCNiU_108>.

O'Luanaigh, Cian. "CERN Accelerating Science." CERN Researchers Confirm Existence of the Force. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2015. <http://home.web.cern.ch/about/updates/2015/04/cern-researchers-confirm-existence-force>.

You, Jia. "Gecko-inspired Adhesives Allow People to Climb Walls." N.p., n.d. Web. <http%3A%2F%2Fnews.sciencemag.org%2Fbiology%2F2014%2F11%2Fgecko-inspired-adhesives-allow-people-climb-walls>.

Biotech + Art

Biotechnology has the potential to both uplift mankind and destroy it. As per a NIH report, half a century ago, very little was known about the genetics behind disease. In 1990, the Human Genome Project was initiated to sequence and map the complete set of DNA in the human body. On a scientific level, if the specific genes responsible for particular diseases can be identified and altered; humans would be able to cure deadly diseases like cancer. Yet this poses a philosophical problem; is it fair for parents to ‘design’ their own babies?

The HGP aims to map the complete set of DNA in the human body

Biotechnology’s direct application to art is also a controversial topic. Joe Davis’ work on creating and using an audio microscope that would enable us to hear living cells is very commendable. Likewise, the project to encode bacteria with a symbol of human intelligence and send that into outer space is a proud achievement for the fields of art and science (Vesna, 2013). However, subjecting animals to zygote microinjection to use them as a piece of art is unethical. According to a Wired article, the death of the GFP bunny Alba, was mysterious, and could be caused due to the GFP gene. In my opinion, risking animal life without the potential to benefit society is not keeping with the true spirit of art.

Alba the GFP Bunny

An application of BioArt that greatly benefits society is the field of prosthetics. On the functional side, as per a Vanderbilt University publication, advancements in robotics technology have led to the creation of prosthetics that can mimic the natural movement of human legs (Salisbury, 2012). On an artistic side, The Alternative Limb Project, creates prosthetics that either look like real limbs or stand out as unique pieces of art. Losing a limb, or not being born with all four limbs can handicap a person’s body and identity. Advancements in the field of prosthetics today are remarkable.

artful prosthetics by the The Alternative Limb Project

"About." The Alternative Limb Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2015. <http://www.thealternativelimbproject.com/about/>.

"NIH Fact Sheets - Human Genome Project." NIH Fact Sheets - Human Genome Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2015. <http://report.nih.gov/NIHfactsheets/ViewFactSheet.aspx?csid=45&key=H#H>.

Philipkoski, Kristen. "RIP: Alba, the Glowing Bunny." WIRED. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2015. <http://archive.wired.com/medtech/health/news/2002/08/54399?currentPage=all>.

Salisbury, David. "Robotic Advances Promise Artificial Legs That Emulate Healthy Limbs." Vanderbilt Research. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2015. <http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2013/11/robotic-legs-healthy-limbs/>.

Vesna, Victoria. "5 Bioart Pt1 1280x720." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 11 May 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=631&v=PaThVnA1kyg>.