The Tufte article refers to powerpoint presentations that were used at NASA to address problems with a shuttle mission. Upon leaving Earth’s atmosphere a the outside of a shuttle was damaged and thus the integrity of the hull was compromised. The purpose of the powerpoint is to address this problem and bring it into the limelight but as he conveys this is not what happens. The powerpoints are actually very inefficient and many are unaware that a very large problem actually exists or that the damage to the hull is actually happening. This shows that powerpoint used by itself to try to showcase something important is not effective. Using powerpoints as visual aids accompanied by technical reports would allow people to get a much clearer idea of what is actually happening in the presentation. So, the rhetoric of a sole powerpoint presentation is very weak. It is unable to explain and persuade to the necessary extent.

The Verichip has opened the door to human barcoding, or the identification of a human through the scanning of a microchip. Though it opens many doors that would lead to a promising tomorrow, the Verichip also allows for a new level of control, and identity theft among other things. The technology used in the Verichip is thought to be able to replace all forms of identification, credit cards, checks, keys, and security measures. This would make it a necessary part of society and thus be thrust on all individuals. With a capability of being used for tracking purposes this will conflict with a person’s right to privacy. So although the Verichip could make life easier in many ways, as well as help in services such as medical care and locating missing children the costs out way the benefit. The rights of an individual are just too important to put at risk. One should consider what the word freedom and identity mean to them and determine how much they care.

People have records from birth that acquire information and store personal data about them from birth. Imagine living in a world where your personal information, as well as your location could be accessed and determined from any location on the Earth. Human barcoding is an idea where at birth, a microchip is implanted into a person that is capable of doing such things. New technologies have made it possible to make microchips small enough, and powerful enough to be injected into the human body and used to carry data. Although there would be many positive things involved with such an innovation, things such as health care information a wounded person, identity for a person possibly found at a crime scene, or even finding missing children. But with a powerful widely used innovation there are threats. Governments could use the system for tracking, or surveillance, and criminals might even be able to use it for illegal accusation of personal information.

This picture comes compliments from flickr.com.

This is a giant squid in the form most commonly found by humans, unfortunately washed up dead on a beach. This particular giant was found on the shores of Cardiff Beach. Due to their elusive nature and their suspected habitat of very deep water for years this was one of the only two ways we were able to study the giant squid. Dead squids watched on shore were studied as well as remains that were found in the stomaches of sperm whales (the giant squids primary predator.) The giant shown above seems to still be a fresh specimen due to the obvious moisture that still coats it and was most likely taken for scientific analysis. New technologies may be getting closer to helping us uncover the mysteries of this invertebrate so scientists will no longer have to wait for dead remains to wash ashore for study.

The article concerns the first wild images of a giant squid in it’s habitat. It’s behavior conflicts with prior beliefs as the footage clearly shows the giant squid as a aggressive predator.

- First-ever observations of a live giant squid in the wild

1. The Genome turns personal
Medication may be able to benefit people more directly if it is tailored to work with their DNA.
2. Black Hole Feasts at Milky Way’s center
The center of our galaxy is a black hole and it’s devouring the objects around it.
3. Dark Matters
Dark matter is matter that exists but as a void. It doesn’t reflect light and is actually only noticeable by
its gravitational field.
4. The biggest squid ever captured
The ocean makes up the largest portion of our planet and we still haven’t explored all of it and we keep
finding new species.
5. Why loneness is bad for you
It’s amazing how a human emotion can actually affect your health in such a negative way.
6. Reawakening the dormant mind.
Doctors in the future may be able to bring people out of semi-conscious states.
7. First step to wireless electricity
It removes the need for power wires, electrical outlets and just overall benefits society.
8. Amazing battery made of…paper
It’s a battery as thin and light as paper, what else?
9. How to erase a single memory
People with traumatic experiences or horrible memories can be saved the torment of having to live with
them.
10. Were the first Americans wiped out by an asteroid?
Uncovering what really happened to our ancestors.

The Varying Speeds of the Digital World

Now seen as a necessity for every modern day researcher the computer has become an essential part of scientific study. Through an accident that left 18 year old freshman Roger Rodriguez temporarily injured he has discovered a fascination with the computational power and elaborate design of these machines.

Roger, a student at the University of Miami, is an aspiring engineer with a passion for technology and a love of sports. During a basketball game in the summer of 2007, Roger “rolled” his ankle causing him to suffer from a second degree sprain. With sports not being an option Roger began to spend time working on computers and studied how they functioned.

The first computers were fairly simple machines by the standards of today. The primary function of these computers were to perform mathematical calculations which now is merely a task belonging to handheld counterparts (i.e. calculators.) These early machines were large enough to fill rooms, and weighed upwards of 30 tons. One early example would be the ENIAC which was a computer used by the military in the 1940s (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ENIAC). Built for the purpose of using mathematical equations to calculate artillery firing tables, it was considered a marvel boasting 17,468 vacuum tubes, 7,200 crystal diodes, 1,500 relays, 70,000 resistors, 10,000 capacitors and around 5 million hand-soldered joints. Vacuum tubes and crystal diodes are no longer common computer components, it wasn’t until Roger got to processors that his curiosity was truly peaked.

Here is a picture from wikimedia showing the enormous size of ENIAC:

Modern day computers are composed of a case, motherboard, processor, digital memory, hard drive, cooling fans, fire wire, disk drives, sound card, video card, and a network card. A case containing these components also hold a transformer, and a voltage control which supply the computer with its power. This is one of the major space saving alterations that made the computer into a personal work station. A case containing the previously mentioned replaces the 17,468 vacuum tubes that were needed in the 1940s to power a computer.

The processor, or CPU, can be considered the brain and blood of a computer. It is built with a certain class of logic machines that execute functions in a computer. These functions, or programs, are contained in a specific code, which are essentially instructions on how to execute the program. The code is transmitted through the processor, read, and recognized, and then instructions are sent out to the rest of the computer to perform various functions.

Roger studied these machines to find that recent technological advances have yielded what are known as multiprocessors. These processors come two forms called “duo” and “quad”. This refers to the actual amount of cores on a processor. As seen below a processor and its core components are so small that even though there is a noticeable visual difference between the two it is not by much.

Picture from legitreviews.com

Knowing that a processor’s speed is measured in gigahertz, GHz, Roger noticed that a quad processor with a 2.66 GHz feed rate would actually have a speed four times greater than a single core 2.66 GHz processor. Since these processors can work together to divide the work they are required to do. So, in an engineering endeavor Roger concluded that he would construct his own computer and include one of these powerhouses.

Studying processors inevitably leads you to two names, AMD and Intel. These have been the two large competitors for computer processors in the past years. AMD is a newer company and had struggled to get their clock times up to par with its competitor who had long since been established. The Athlon processor was the first release that posed a serious challenge to Intel. It had comparable clock times and sold for nearly half the price. Reading about both companies and weighing price v.s clock speeds it was Roger’s decision to go the more established Intel. He invested in a quad processor with a speed of 2.66 GHz. Even now in 2008 this is considered a high tech and state of the art piece of technology.

Without question, computers will continue to move forward with stronger and faster components. Future engineers such as Roger will most likely even play a major role in the creation of these new parts.

Below is a video from youtube.com going through the process of creating one of these amazing processors: