Personal Interest Presentation

This is the "final exam" for the Frontiers of Science class.
The idea here is to zoom on on sub-area(s) of any of the four topics covered, specifically sub-area(s) that especially interest you

I am focusing on the use of nanotechnology and NanoPower in current and future space exploration. To put it more lyrically,

"Space, the final NanoPower frontier"

To be honest, good sci-fi works can have quite a potential to be inspiring as to the course of scientific advancement.

A centerprice of our classroom is a widevision screen that, among other things, could display 4 PowerPoint-type slides at a time, and we have a PowerPoint template file designed to work with that.

The crux of my Personal Interest Presentation s going to be one of those, which is a process I've also used for the three topic summaries I've done to date.
The format is one I understand, and I'm also using it because I'll hopefully be able to focus on content rather on the logistical & production issues of a more exotic format

Outlines [Vision And Mind example]

This came to mind as I'm working on Topic Summary #3:

An outline is a good way to prep for doing the topic summary, but it's also a good way to think about the topic, in general.

So here goes:

-Vision And Mind-

* the physiology of the vision system

** details on structure of the eye
*** Rods & Cones

** details on the visual cortex and on V1 through V5
*** where it's located compared to the rest of the brain.

** "lateral inhibition", and how it accentuates the edges of an object

** eye movements
*** depends on the size of the object/scene to be visualized (the object/scene to be visualized is counted in degrees squared)
*** oculomotor system
*** saccades
*** various ways of tracing a moving object

** field-of-view vs. acuity conflict
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* the psychology of the vision system

** How can we visualize brain psychology?
by various medical-imaging techniques:
*** EEG
*** MRI vs. fMRI, differences

** How certain optical illusions work
*** really should be 'neural illusions'?
*** name a few big-name optical illusions & discuss them
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* relation to other senses
** brain lobe where inputs from other senses 'meet'
** use of visual system to compensate for other sight loss
** use of other sensory systems to compensate for vision loss

Electron Microscopy

Electron MIcroscopes come in two forms: The Tunneling Electron Microscope (TEM) and the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM).

What is the difference? Both use beams of electrons.
However, the difference resides in the fact that the different types of machines direct the electron beam differently.

Tunneling Electron Microscopes send an electron beam *through* the object. This means theta they are good at gathering details on the inside of the object (which is especially important with cells), and of the surface of small objects.


Scanning Electorn Microscopes send their electron beams along the outside of objects. They are most effective for analyzing the surface of large/thick objects

The STEM (Scanning transmission electron microscope) combines some of the advantageous features of each, logically enough.

There are online simulators, based on Flash, Java, or the like, that give you an impression of how an electron microscope works. By adjusting settings common to an electorn microscope, and chosing from a premade set of 'samples', you see the resultant image.

http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/electronmicroscopy/magnify1/index.html is an example

Topic Summaries

Topic summaries are a major part of this class' assignment mix.
They consist, of, well, a summary of each topic the class covered. (There are four separate documents involved; one for each of the four topics)

We're given latitude in what format to use.

Common is the old standby; PowerPoint (However, this has to be done well; not just simple bulleted text and the like)

Our classroom has some special equipment that can be summed up as a 'immersive environment'. A large part of this is a wide special screen, which actually seems to consist of four panels. Easier to see, and with the capability of displaying more information at a time. One of the things it can do is display four slides' worth of information at a time, and I am using for my topic summary a Power Point template designed to work with this feature.

Tags

Tags

The Frontiers of Science class covers 4 topics: Viruses, NanoPower, Vision and the Mind, and Big Bang/Black Holes

Blogger's tag system is an excellent way to sort out which posts go with which topics:

http://alan-labbook.blogspot.com/search/label/Viruses
http://alan-labbook.blogspot.com/search/label/NanoPower
http://alan-labbook.blogspot.com/search/label/VisionAndMind
http://alan-labbook.blogspot.com/search/label/BBBH

http://alan-labbook.blogspot.com/search/label/Administrative
http://alan-labbook.blogspot.com/search/label/General

What is this?

This is a blog I'm using as the repository for notes and other related class materials for one of my RIT classes, called 'Frontiers of Science'

I have a laptop out during class; generally typing my notes directly into Blogger's 'new post' form. [Thank you for automatically saving my drafts. :)]