TWC - Session 9

The topic for Session 9 was 'Emerging and Future Technologies'. We spoke about several new and upcoming technological advancements and whether or not they would be beneficial to the society in the future.

The class started off with a quote by George Bernard Shaw- “You see things; and you say, 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say, 'Why not?'”

Another quote by Albert Einstein was-   “Imagination is more important than knowledge.

For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”

This quote actually got us thinking about whether technology is more of imagination and creativity or about knowledge. I feel they go hand in hand. Imagination is essential at the beginning to dream the impossible. How you turn that into reality is where knowledge comes into play. 

We then moved on to talk about the drivers of emerging and future technology. The summary was the 4 smarts; Smart People, Smart Ideas, Smart Money and lastly, Smart Alliances.

Prof showed us a video on Claytronics, which caught my attention. Using this technology, objects would now be flexible.  Cars could be molded into which ever shape and changed into whatever color one wishes!  Chairs could be made into couches and beds! With the help of this new technology, a new media type is created which not allows transfer of not just voice and pictures, but 3 D shapes too. Catoms ( claytronic atoms) change into almost anything you want them to, given one the command. This new technology would change how we operate. The objects made out of claytronics would be able to form lots of different shapes. Its most extra ordinary application is how claytronics can revolutionize communication. Talking to somebody on the phone would now not only mean hearing their voice but also seeing them and meeting with them-not just voice, but picture and touch too! This is simply unimaginable.

We spoke about several other new and emerging technologies like Virtual and Augmented Reality. ‘Super learning’ is an example of this technology. With augmented reality systems, students could physically explore historical events, hold conversations with historical figures, see, hear and feel history instead of reading from some text book.

We also discussed nano technology. Some researchers predict that nanotechnology could lead to faster computer chips, tiny medical devices that repair clogged arteries and new filters to clean water pollution. The interesting thing about nano material is that we humans have used it unknowingly for centuries now! The colors on stain glass windows have been the result of a controlled heating and cooling process that adjusts the size of tiny crystals in the glass. One of the goals of Nanotechnology is to find new forms of clean energy. Every minute enough of the sun light reaches the Earth to meet the world’s energy demand for an entire year!! Nature gets its energy from the sum by Photosynthesis and Photovoltaics. Researchers are using  Nano technology to work on how we could do the same, learning from nature itself.  Nature builds several machines on the nano scale, which have interesting nano mechanical properties.  Learning a few lessons from nature, and adding our own tricks would make this work.

Other examples of this technology are Nano pants (which are stain resistant), faster and better computers, nano socks (that don’t stink), golf balls that fly straighter, manmade skin, lip gloss with spf protection, etc.

Researchers are working on building a ‘super computer’ / manmade brain. They are not looking for ways to mimic the human brain, but to build one. Humans are going to be more and more machine like and machines, human. This is not entirely inconceivable in the future. There may come a time when robots/ computers start to rule us, rather than we ruling them!

I learnt about quite a few new technologies and how it is likely to impact our lives in the furure. Id rate this class a 9 on 10. It was very interesting and informative at the same time. I’d like to have more discussions on what technology holds for us in the future.

TWC - Session 8

The topic for this class was ‘Energy and World Change’. We discussed the past, present and future of energy consumption and the impact this consumption had on the environment and in the far away future, us.

We started out by watching a video that showed us how we need to operate in order to survive. Thousands of years of over utilizing non renewable resources has led to not just the degradation of the environment but also very less non renewable forms of energy left for ourselves and our posterity to consume. This video ended with a message to ‘Think New’. Technology needs to be adopted for our planet to survive. Renewable resources have to be utilized to save our planet.

It is predicted that if we continue to consume oil, at the current rate, there will be none left in the next 40 to 50 years to come! This piece of information was scary. Another 50 years and there is no oil available to consume! Surviving without this resource is nearly unconceivable, at this stage. We must go green and use substitutes (non renewable resources) in order to survive.

There are several benefits of using non renewable resources. One, renewables are limited. They are soon going to deplete. There is only about 100 years of Oil left in Iraq! Two, the use of technology would increase efficiency and reduce cost. In poor countries, like certain places in Africa, people use wood, twigs etc as sources of energy. Upgrading to the biomass stove would be better.  Three, it’ll help make many countries independent and self reliant. Countries that aren’t rich in mineral resources like oil, coals etc depend highly on countries like Iraq. Singapore is highly dependent on other countries for energy since it produces zero or very little energy itself. Therefore, it is not secure. Fourth, many economies like Nigeria, rely heavily on the primary industry. Primary sector activity is responsible for 95% of Nigeria’s revenues. What happens when there are no resources left?!

Different countries have been ‘going green’ and adopting technology. Chinas consumption of oil has increased drastically. But side by side, it doubled its investment in green technology! It’s ironic of US can’t stop telling China to reduce its consumption when US consumes so much more!

The use of ethanol fuel in Brazil instead of Petrol is another example. Most countries are moving towards substituting Petrol for Biofuel. The European Union in its green paper has called for biofuels to account for 20% of gasoline use by 2020. The Ministry for Energy in Thailand proposes phasing out all Octane 95 gasoline to be replaced by E10 in the next two years.  Only a couple of months ago, Obama showed sudden interest in ‘Synthetic Biology’.

In conclusion, there are technologies available that make it possible for the world to use renewable energy. Most countries do not understand the intensity of the situation. Before we know it, we would have consumed all our natural resources.

I would rate this class a 10 on 10 since this topic is of great relevance, high importance and priority. This problem needs to be solved in order to sustain life on this planet.

TWC - Session 7

This session we continued to talk about Biobusiness Revolution, focusing on Agriculture and Environment. The topics we discussed were GM foods, biotechnology and farming methods and algae biofuels. 

World hunger is one of the biggest problems being faced by us, and will continue to remain a problem if measures are not taken to correct it. There is enough food being produced for the total population, but yet thousands of individuals in under developed countries die of starvation each day. As Mahatma Gandhi once said, "There’s enough on this planet for everyone’s need but not for everyone’s greed". The problem lies in the distribution of food in these famine stricken areas. 


The paper I read about World Hunger stressed on the fact that if farmers continued to use traditional/natural farming methods, the mushrooming populations need would not be met with. In order to feed the world of 62 billion, biotechnology would have to be adopted. Affluent countries are pro 'natural methods' of farming, but these 'natural methods' cost way too much, and therefore are unaffordable for the poor nations. We watched a video (Sir Norman Borlang) that reiterated this view.It was about the importance Green Tech and Plant Biotech is for sustainability of mankind. I quote what Prof said, " When we grow the resources we need, we will attain sustainable development".


We then went on to talk about GM food and how the US is against labeling food as GM or natural.This is unethical. Consumers have full right to know whether what they are consuming is genetically modified or not. What happens in cases where the consumer is allergic? It was surprising to know that kiwi, nachos and yogurt is genetically modified and not natural. I have been eating nachos all my life without knowing this!
Lastly we discussed about algae biofuels. Algae could be used to create biofuels, hence reducing dependency on fossil fuels. In current times of high oil prices, competing demands between foods and other biofuel sources, and the world food crises, this technology has and will help firms in the future tremendously. 


Id rate this session a 10 on 10 since I got to learn a lot of interesting things. I was complelled to research on Algae Biofuels and the different GM foods, which gave me an insight into Biotechnology.