Research

= = The Future Issues

Environment
[|Clean Energy]

This credible site discussed how efforts to use clean energy/environmentally safe alternatives was hurting the environment and ironically not benefiting the it at all. The author used a lot logical evidence and examples to show how the economy is going through a stall because of the new programs that are being created for the environment. It discusses how "e nergy regulations in the name of precaution are contributing to this national malaise. They’re doing more to cool our economy than our planet" a cooling we don't need. There was also a lot of talk about the Obama administration and their contribution to push for the programs that were hurting our economy rather than benefit it. A bit ironic for a man who promised change and a brighter future for our economy in 2008. I couldn't help but think of how this related to the "corporate control" panel in the dystopian worksheet, which discussed how the government preys on weak civilians and controls society through products and the media. The environment is obviously slowly deteriorating so to be funding programs that hurt the economy and the environment is a bit puzzling in my opinion.

Biotechnology/Genetics
[|Marine Biotechnology]



This website discussed how biotechnological researchers have found a breakthrough in marine biotechnology, as sea sponges and other marine organisms may be used to improve human health. Through extensive research it is found that these sea creatures "...have pharmaceutical potential because they interact with proteins that have been conserved throughout evolutionary history and that are involved in human disease processes..." which means that using the chemicals found in these creatures could potentially cure many diseases. This reminded me of how in a "perfect" dystopian society, the government or people in higher power work aimlessly to rid the world of all diseases, through biotechnology. While this may seem like a wonderful innovation, the short story 2BR02B proved that the world still needs some chaos, and that disease is just a part of life. While this advancement won't cure all diseases, it is a step closer to what the "future" is said to hold, a disease-less prospect which ironically isn't so bright.

Technology
[|Fingerprint Sensor: iPhone 5s]



This website was more colloquial in the language that it used, but knowing the network of news that it derived from still made it a very credible source. It discussed the new iPhone 5S and the breakthrough in technology that Apple has innovated; fingerprint sensors. It displayed that the reason for this new fingerprint sensor is for better faster security so that people won't have to write in a pass code anymore. This reminded me of the aspect that we discussed in class about how with more advances in technology, humans are are becoming dumber. It poses the question, how lazy are people that they can't just type in their pass codes anymore? Also, what do people have on their phones that it requires that high-level of security? In the Socratic seminar, some of my classmates brought up interesting concerns about the new fingerprint sensor, such as what is the real motive for having it? And where exactly does our fingerprint go? This article illuminated these concerns and how the world now is slowly inching towards the dystopian societies learned about in class.