We went from picking apart the world on a nanoscale last week to the macroscale and discussing the farthest corners of the universe this week. I think that the stark contrast really drives home the point that this "cosmic ocean," as it was said in the lecture video, is where everything from science, technology, and art comes together (Vesna). This week gave an interesting perspective in terms the vastness of the world as the video, "Powers of Ten," shows how a view of outer space can be zoomed into a view of atomic particles in a span of 1040 meters. Fans of the video blog about the beauty of seeing the world from different angles, and I agree that this prompts very complex questions about the idea of existence and my own place in the universe.
Pin dropped on current location using Google Earth
In addition to promoting this abstract type of thinking, space exploration has been the reason for increased investment in the education system and emphasis on science and mathematics in schools. It's flourished in the cinema and with increased support for the cultural impact of space activities, has come to demonstrate our identity as explorers and artists by nature. While we've explored many areas of knowledge from math to neuroscience to nanotechnology with goals of better understanding ourselves and progressing towards the future, our human interest in space represents how much we still don't know and how much we still have yet to learn.
Final scene from Men in Black II - "Still a rookie"
Just as the Star Trek introduction states, space is the final frontier. Similar to the starship Enterprise, with the innovations of science and technology along with the boundless potential and curiosity of art, we continue to explore strange new worlds and boldly go where no man has gone before.
People as part of an infinite universe
References:
Earnes Office. "Powers of Ten (1977)." Youtube. Youtube, 26 August 2010. Web. 31 May 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKBhvDjuy0>
Powers of Ten blog. "Happy Power of Tens Day!" blog.powersof10.com. Earnes Office LLC, 10 October 2013. Web. 31 May 2015.
"The Leonardo Space Art Project Working Group." Leonardo Space Art Project. International Society for the Arts, Sciences, and Technology, 1996. Web. 31 May 2015.
Uconlineprogram. "8 space pt2 1280x720." Youtube. Youtube, 29 July 2014. Web. 31 May 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLZMDpoP-u0>
Uconlineprogram. "Space pt6." Youtube. Youtube, 30 May 2012. Web. 31 May 2015.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYmOtFjIj0M>
I completely agree with you with regards to the power of ten video- it really puts everything in perspective and shows how small we are compared to the whole universe. I also think it is interesting how you point out that the cinema and our society's culture promote exploration.
I completely agree with you with regards to the power of ten video- it really puts everything in perspective and shows how small we are compared to the whole universe. I also think it is interesting how you point out that the cinema and our society's culture promote exploration.
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