Image Analysis

1-Background analysis + building.

2-Image Analysis (colours)à use of bright but lifeless colours (dirt).

3-Use of working robots for difficult tasks.

4-Connection to our class + native speaking country.

5-Robot revolution (compared to H. Ford revolution).

6-Robots as a substitution of human workers.

7-Implications of the technological unemployment caused by robots.

8-Relationship between humans and robots.

9-Future of the working machines.

Building our robot: "WALL-E ONE"

1-.What problem or challenge does the robot solve?

The duty of our robot is to clean the sidewalks. Tourists enjoy cleaner eviroments but they don’t look after their garbage, not even we do, and it’s a very tough work to do, so that’s why we’ve decided to create this robot.

2-.What are some of the functions you will program your robot to carry out?

The main function of the robot is to “patrol” around the city sidewalks, grabbing the garbage that’s in the floor. It will use a mechanic arm to take the garbage and then it will pour it into a bin

3-.What materials will it be made out of? Why?

Stainless steel covered with hard plastic so sand won’t break the mechanism and it won’t rust. It will count with gps system so no one can take it (besides it weiths a ton)

4-.How will the robot sense its surroundings?

With a motion sensor in the front, back and sides of the machine to move around the crowds without crushing a wall or a person. It would be programmed to grab anything that’s lying on the ground without care, so you better look after ur chihuahua.

5-.How will it move and respond to the environment?

 It would be a little “car” with a mechanic arm on the top and a garbage bin at the back. Once the bin is full the robot will go to a bigger trash bin and throw the garbage.

6-.How or why is a robot better equipped to handle this challenge than a human?

The task of picking up garbage is a daily work, people walk at the streets almost all day long so it’s necessary to maintain the sidewalks clean.  A robot is the best choice for this kind of work, because it will work 24 hours a day the seven days of the week, while a human worker would work only for 8 hours a day.

7-.What specific functions will the robot carry out? What components will the robot include that help it carry out these tasks?

The robot will clean the streets by sweeping dust and sand with its broom. Also the robot will clean the sidewalk of garbage by picking up trash and throwing it to the trash can, using its mechanized arm.

 It will include a broom located in the front of the robot, a mechanized arm for picking up trash, and a small trash can where it will store temporally the garbage.

8-.What will the robot look like? Will it look humanlike? Why or why not?

The robot will have a simple structure; it will be like a small square with a trash can and a mechanized arm on the top. It will not look like a humanoid because the idea of the robot is to complete a task more efficiently than a human will do, by having multiple components a human could never use simultaneously. Also by having a simple structure, it would not draw attention of people passing by so they will not interfere in its work.

9-.How will the robot’s appearance influence how people interact with it?

The idea of the robot is to get unnoticed, so no one would interfere with its job. If this robot was build with a humanoid structure it will draw attention of persons that would play with it, and even it could make dogs play with it and even destroying it.

10-.What limitations does the robot have?

As it is a cleaning robot it would only be able to complete the task it was build for, not being able to do other tasks. Also it will need a very complex program so it won’t go into the street and crash with vehicles.

Evaluation of my friends

Last class, my teacher told as to “evaluate” my partner’s presentation. Because of that I decided to create a small paragraph for each presentation describing the positive and negative things.

First I want to start with Mr. Ugarte and Nuñez presentation. They did a very good job, and you could notice they prepared it a lot, but at some point they started to give too much scientific specific data and they didn’t explain their ideas well. Although this I think it was an excellent presentation with a very difficult but informative topic (process of biofuels).

Then we have Mr. Reynolds and Barriga. They did a very good job explaining their topic but I didn’t like the point of view they took. I think it was to extremist and not a realistic solution. 

Finally we have Mr Oporto and Gasto. They presented about the economical effects of biofuels, and made an excellent presentation. I liked very much their topic because it was different and interesting, but I think more preparation was needed at the moment of explaining ideas.

Embrions

What directs the sequence of events that turn a blob of cells into an embryo with specialized tissues and organs?

Gastrulating is the sequence of events that transform a blob cell into an embryo

The narrator says that “cells talk to each other.” What does that mean?

This means that cells can have a type of communication with each other so a cell can trigger a response in a far away cell.

How do cells in different parts of the embryo become different kinds of cells and organs?

In all the cells, different group of genes are turned on, making the cell different from others.

What kinds of proteins are found in different cells and organs?

We can find Collagen, Actin & Myosin, Hemoglobin, etc.

What tells the cells which kinds of proteins to make?

Cells make different proteins in response to the chemical reactions they receive.

What is the relationship between DNA, genes, and the proteins that are produced in cells?

After a very important process, the nucleus of the cell can read the DNA and activate certain gens that will later on create a protein.

Gene control II

What do homeobox genes code for in animals?

Some genes are “more important” than other because they generate the basic body parts in a living being, this are the homebox genes.

Why are homeobox (also called homeotic) genes called the master control genes, or master switches? 

These genes are called the master genes because they are common to almost every living thing. These genes are supposed to be the genes of our common ancestor.

What other organisms besides fruit flies have homeobox genes?

Almost all animals, because we have a very similar genetic structure.

What did the experiment with fruit flies and mice show?

This experiment showed that the homebox gens are common to some animals and that by changing them from one animal to the other it created no problematic effect.

What does the presence of packages of information suggest about evolution?

It suggests that all animals came from a common ancestor but different adaptations occurred to create the different animals we now have.

How has evolution tinkered with genes of animals?

As there were different combinations of these genes, different animals were created

What role has embryos played in the study of evolution?

At this stage, scientists can see easily any change in the growing process of the animal, so it is very useful to study in this stage.

Gene control

Why did the German scientist decide to study the fruit flies at the larval stage?

The German scientist decided to study the fruit flies at the larval stage so they could observe the howl growing process of the fly, so if any malfunction happened to the fly they could know where it was and why it happened.

  How does the mother fly activate the control genes?

The mother fly uses a specific chemical substance that triggers some gens of the fly; this will generate the specialization of that part of the egg. This chemical reaction trigger if that part is going to develop as a head or as a tail.

  

What is the role of control genes?

Control genes are very important because these genes are the ones that have the job of activating all the genes necessary for the growing process of the fly.

Which of the two species are closer to humans?

Zebra fish is much closer to humans than fruit fly because it has a growing process similar to the humans.

Stem cells Breakthrough + other cells videos

1-.Why are stem cells considered so valuable for medical research?

Steam cells are considered valuable because they have the capacity of transforming into any of the 200 different cells the human body has. Because of this capacity, steam cells can be used to heal many diseases such as spinal cord problems or diabetes.

2-.Why did the researchers have to narrow the spectrum of genes within stem cells?

They needed to find the specific genes that triggered the generation of steam cells, so they could be able to activate the DNA of a skin cell, for example, and produce a steam cell.

3-.What are the sources of stem cells and the advantages and disadvantages associated with using each?

There are two sources of steam cells. The first one is by harvesting cells from embryos, the cells that result of this process are very flexible, this means that cells can be easily changed to another kind of cell (pluripotent). The problem of this way of acquiring cells is that an embryo must be killed to achieve de process.

The second way is to transform regular cells into steam cells by activating certain gens. This is a very effective way because no harm is inflicted to the person, but the resulting steam cells are less flexible than the others.

4-.What are the three cases presented at the beginning of the second video?

There are three cases presented, these are: a diabetic man, two girls with a genetic problem and a hockey player with a damaged spinal cord.

5-.How might a stem cell be used to treat spinal cord injuries?

Doctors create a bridge of steam cells that connect both parts of the spinal cord, this makes the cells connect both edges of the bridge generating a new spinal cord.

6-.Explain the outcome of the experiment with injured rats presented in the second video?

Laboratory rats that had a damaged spinal cord, were healed by a doctor by using the bridge technology. This resulted in a walking rat

7-.What issues surround the debate over of stem cell research?

There are some serious ethic issues to be solve, mainly a debate of when does life start.

8-.What issue do you think needs to be debated as we make decisions about stem cell research?

I think we must debate about the ethic consequences of all this procedures, and also we must generate a certain code of rules for the experimentation (one does not simply plays to be god).

Arrivederchi!!

Coming back from Europe

This week I’ve arrive back from the Mackay school euro trip. This journey was an excellent opportunity for me as a student to get to know more about the ancient civilizations of the European continent and to create new friendship bonds with my school friends.

In this trip we visited mainly four countries, these were: France, Italy, England and Scotland. I like very much all of the countries, and the one I like the most t was Italy because of its old culture and its beautiful cities (like Venetia).

It was an awesome trip, and I hope to go back some day.