Worrksheet Biological Warfare!

Which bodies currently fund research into your topic?

• As almost all countries have signed the treaty banishing BW it is hard to say which countries are funding research, but I’d reckon that a lot of them do have some secret research - maybe not even to harm someone but to prepare (and arm) themselves for possible attacks. It’s a fact that, as a part of their defense policy many governments fund research in biodefense.

Who do you think should fund research into your topic and why?

• Honestly, I don’t really know. Why would I want anyone to fund research in something that can easily kill me?

Does the science in your topic benefit everybody? If so, who does it benefit the most?

• When looking at long term effects I think that many people, if not everybody, could benefit from research that is related to BW. The problem with this question is, however, that I don’t think there is much research for BW specifically, most of the knowledge about BW comes from other fields like medical, chemical or biological research. These sciences usually aim at making our lives better/easier, so yes, people benefit. Even if e.g. new cancer treatment is too expensive for people at the beginning it will eventually be available to almost everyone. If knowledge is misused very little people would benefit, because, as I said, most knowledge is extracted from other disciplines.

If it does not benefit everybody equally, should society be paying for the research?

• Definitely. Due to the fact that most knowledge is extracted from other disciplines it would be unfair to not fund research. I would do more harm than good to stop funding research. But that is the big problem with the dual-use dilemma and I already discussed it in the other homework, here’s the link in case you want to know all of my thoughts to this topic. 

Find a TED talk in some way related to your topic. Paste the link below.

• http://blog.ted.com/2013/09/14/your-weekend-reading-in-defense-of-the-red-line-a-public-health-heroine/ [more specifically: http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/139913/sohail-h-hashmi-and-jon-western/a-taboo-worth-protecting?cid=rss-rss_xml-a_taboo_worth_protecting-000000] This one is about chemical weapons, I know, but chemical and biological weapons are not that different if you think about it.
• http://www.ted.com/speakers/alan_russell
• http://www.ted.com/speakers/marc_goodman

Did it teach you anything new? If so, which aspects had you not considered before?

• It definitely taught me to think twice about everything. Even if something seems to be perfectly alright and beneficial at the beginning it’s very likely that it does have a downside. Almost any invention can be misused in one or another way, so don’t just be happy about anything that seems to facilitate your life but be critical as it most likely does have a disadvantage.

Every area of research has societal factors which limit its progress. How are outside influences impacting research in the field of science you are looking at for your CAJ? Think of as many examples as you can.

• If in any way society has increased the risk for BW by pushing progress in the genetic and medical field. The fact that knowledge has become available so easily makes it prone to misuse.
• Religious fanatics might be against research because they think humans shouldn’t mess with what’s “god-given” and that we don’t have the right to modify anything.
• As most people don’t really think about the threat of BW (I didn’t either before I started my CAJ) I don’t think there are so many societal factors influencing it.

Imagine you are leading a team of researchers in your field. How would you seek to overcome these societal limitations as much as possible?

• I would try to fight against religious fanatics and teach them that progress is not diabolic. I am not against religion, but what the hell is wrong with people who say it’s god’s will that this specific person they don’t even know suffers years and years from cancer only to die miserably in the end anyway? That is just ridiculous, and if cancer research can help sick people it definitely should!

Follow this link to the list of CAJ topics.You will also need to open the list of gmail addresses. Which other topics connect, even if only in a small way, to your own topic? If you cannot say whether someone’s topic connects to yours because you do not fully understand what their topic is, then you will need to have a look at their CAJ first. Give me as many topics as you can, but at least three, which connect to your own. When you are finished, click the “share” button and invite those students below to your document (make sure the box “Notify people via e-mail” is checked so that they know you have added them).

• Follow the link.

CAJ discussion with a friend!

Last night I talked about my CAJ biological warfare with my friend Anna. I started with presenting it in basic terms, which was not hard at all, but when I had to describe some of the details I struggled a little bit. The problem was that it’s been quite a while that I wrote my last blog post so I wasn’t that up to date any more and I kind of forgot some of the details. I could have avoided that by reading through my posts before meeting up with her, but to be honest, I forgot. Anyway, this only was a little problem because our discussion did not need fine details once Anna knew about the general idea.
Throughout our discussion there was one aspect that appeared over and over again: dual-use. The biggest problem is that regardless of the good intentions of research, the findings can literally always be misused in one or another way. It is frightening what people could do if they set their mind to hurting others, and even worse how easily they could do it. What bothered us most was the fact that there is barely anything that can be done about this danger. You can’t just stop doing research, otherwise our civilization would not make progress any more and the wish to develop, to improve and to best yourself and others is a part of human nature. Also, it would not be fair to forbid research just because there is a risk of it being misused. The main focus of research is to facilitate our lives and to improve life quality for sick people or even heal them. It would be unfair to deprive humanity of the chance to help and being helped.
We discussed this problem over and over again, but the only conclusion we could come to was the following: Fear of the risk that something bad might happen should never keep anyone from anything. This applies to personal issues as well as the dual-use dilemma. There’s always a risk in almost anything and there’s nothing we can do about it. Certain risks have to be taken.

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How Instant Photographs Work!

In 1947, the first instant camera was built. What was so special about it was the fact that the film developed itself in only a few minutes. This was a major achievement considering that it used to be fairly complicated and time consuming to develop film. Even though it seems to be magic that makes the pictures appear, it actually is a fairly simple process.
There are not too many differences between a regular camera film and an instant camera film, thus, I will commence with explaining photography in general.
Usually, film consists of a plastic base coated with a silver compound. When light hits the film it causes a chemical reaction that forms silver atoms. The pattern created by the silver compound that has reacted with very much, very little or no light at all shows the image taken. Colour film is very similar, the only difference is that it has three layers, one sensitive to blue light, one sensitive to green light and one sensitive to red light. When the film is exposed to light, each layer reacts with its specific colour. Again, the pattern created by the reaction shows the picture taken.
While the chemicals needed to develop normal film have to be added one by one, the instant camera has all the required chemicals in the film itself.
Underneath each colour layer, there is a developer layer containing the dye chemicals for the specific colour. These light sensitive and developer layers lie in between a black base layer and the image layer, the timing layer and the acid layer. The different layers are components of a chain reaction waiting to be set in motion. The component triggering the chain reaction is called reagent layer and is a mixture of opacifiers that block light, alkali that neutralizes acid, white pigment and some more elements. It is located in between the image layer and the light sensitive layer. When a picture is taken, the film is exposed to light for a short period of time and then pressed through a pair of rollers that releases the reagent layer through pressure. The reagent chemicals change the particles exposed to light into metallic silver and dissolve the dye that make the colours of the photo appear. At the same time the reagent chemicals also move upward and activate the layers on top. Once all processes are completed, the light blocking chemical clears up and the picture will slowly appear.

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http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/everyday-innovations/instant-film.htm