Ryan+Goodman

// Welcome to Ryan's Rockin' Wikispace! //

Personally, I believe that the following UN Sustainability Goals are the most pertinent and important (in order of importance):
 * 1) Clean Water and Sanitation
 * This really comes down to the fact that water is the most important resource that we need to survive, and, in my opinion, long-term survival is my ultimate value. Without clean water, none of the other goals on the list have any relevance or importance (not to say none of the other goals have any importance), Yes, decent work and economic growth and gender equality are very important to me. But, we must be weary of how pressing clean water really is.
 * 1) Zero Hunger
 * 2) Affordable and Clean Energy
 * 3) Climate Action
 * 4) Quality Education
 * So what, you may ask? Why? I have an answer! As simple as it sounds, it is actually a very real issue. No matter how //good// or //smart// we may be as a society or a group of generations, if we can not pass on this knowledge or foster this attitude in the coming generations, then what is the point? If we're able to reroute our mindset as a population, and conserve tons of water, but the next age doesn't follow up, it was like nothing had happened. It's important to recognize that sustainability is future-oriented. This massive problem is not going to be solved in a decade: it warrants consistency.

= First Official Week Information (Wiki 2) Below =

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I found this video to actually be really awesome and empowering! Pritchard started off by introducing the issue and informing the audience about the presence of unsafe drinking water and how it can lead to diarrhea and such. He then demonstrated his technology, Lifesaver, which is basically a super-filter and showed how it worked. He added some disgusting stuff like rabbit feces and dirt to a tub of water and then scooped up some of the water into the bottle. The filter, which he said has 15 nm holes, is small enough to block any bacteria or virus from entering, unlike other filters out there. So, when he pumped the bottle a couple times and then opened the lid, clean, clear drinkable water spewed out of the top--Viola, like magic. If you're going to watch any of this video, start at 3:30 to watch the demo. I was very impressed with Pritchard's technology, and I was a bit surprised how easy it seemed to make and why we're not just using it right now. It seems so simple to not just use. I considered the cost of the bottle part of it, which he never actually addressed, but if supply was so high then prices would inevitably drop. All we really need is more engineers and scientists like Pritchard in this world to manufacture the bottles and our huge, daunting problem would be solved. We can not allow problems like the results of Hurricane Katrina to happen again. In relation to our trip to Robbins Park, this specific technology would essentially make the downfalls of poor water supply (low pH, high dissolved oxygen, high nitrates and phosphates, high turbidity etc.) obsolete. We would not have to worry about these limitations with Lifesaver because all of the "bad stuff" would be filtered out of the water. Any erosion that may occur, like we suspected happened when 309 was rerouted, would be insignificant, because we would not be drinking that in the water.

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Daisy Robinton talks about Crispr Cas9 and how we, humans, are able to perform genetic engineering, which we all know a little bit about already. What was interesting was the spin she put on it. Her passion and reason for why she studies this is her sister, Lily, who was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. Lily fueled her to continue to find ways to research, and she came about Crispr Cas 9. However, in this video, she addressed a potential end to aging. Towards the end portion of the video, she began to talk about the ethical aspect of this, and the "Would you engineer your own resilience" questions. It really made me think about our future and how different our world could become in short time. This concept actually has a strong relation to the topics we discussed this week, particularly the did you know video. We are proliferating as society at an extremely fast rate, and this technology just goes to serve as a testament to that. Similarly, should this technology become utilized in masses, then we're only going to steepen our population growth rate even more, and reproductions will ensue. We need to be conscious of our consumption and production, so we have enough resources for many generations to follow.

= Wiki 3 Below =

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**Summary** When I first started watching this video, I was dissuaded to not post it. To be blunt: the speaker wasn't amazing, it seemed so scripted, and it wasn't very dazzling. In other words, it didn't make me go, "Wow!" Yet, this video (coupled with our class discussion) was probably the first time I actually believed that one person could make a difference. To summarize the main idea of the video, Isha Datar talked about a new technology--in vitro produced meat. In simpler terms, she described a process of just producing the parts of an animal that we, humans, eat (excluding the ear, eyes, etc.). She showed the audience a statistic of energy consumption, and almost 90% of energy consumed from birth to slaughter of an animal comes from the production. Because of this, Datar argued, if we can cut down on the production costs to the environment, then we would end up using far less resources with a slight increase in energy input. Just by choosing to eat in vitro meat, not even go vegetarian, once a day, I realized that one person can change our world. And the facts are just astounding.

**Connection** This relates almost directly to our week's class discussion on meat by arguing in support of taking small steps towards not eating very high amounts of meat produced the way it currently is. I still think, like what the man in the long Ted Talk Video urged, shifting to an all plant diet is probably the best option, but this certainly is more appealing (in my opinion) to some. All of the water and carbon emissions he addressed in the video in the process of birth to slaughter for a real animal would be nullified in this procedure. This solution (in vitro produced meat) could solve the issue and still allow the meat-lovers in the world to still enjoy their meat to the fullest. It just takes a willingness to shift one's mindset. Much like the yogurt lab, this technology could be very sustainable because we would only be relying on lab-grown meat. It's all artificial.


 * Wiki 4 Below **

media type="youtube" key="WdIcgu6Ye-c" width="560" height="315" I decided to focus on two of the top five inventions. The first technology demonstrated in this video is called "The Altered Nozzle." This water-saving technology, simply put, is an aerator that you can attach to the top of your faucet. With this device, instead of spraying a consistent streamline of water, your faucet sprays a well-defined mist. Although this sounds rather simple, the reason for its purpose and its effect is rather significant. Most of the time when we turn on a sink to wash our hands or do the dishes, the water bounces off of the surface that we want to wet, and we end up only "getting" a tiny portion of the water that actually comes out of the faucet. The mist, however, because of the "atomization" of water, according to Johan Nihlen, allows us to use 98% less water and still receive the same amount. Additionally, the creators of the project recognized that a mist is not able to perform any task that you may need from your faucet, like when you need more water to scrub a dish. To address these concerns, they made a "Switch Mode" that still saves 85% more of the water than without it. The next technology explored is called "Water Seer," which collects water from the atmosphere, unpolluted, to use. Placing the device 6 feet in the ground and covering it with dirt is the first step. The metal sides underground are cooled by the dirt around it. Wind in the air, at the same time, spins a turbine (obviously), which, as a result, cause blades inside of the device to spin and direct the surrounding air to a chamber in the bottom of the device where condensation happens. The warm air cools in the chamber and the moisture condenses and flows down into a reservoir: Viola! The creators of "Water Seer" hope to spread this technology around the world with the goal of eliminating the need to use polluted water for everyday tasks and to provide water to areas in drought.
 * Summary **

The topic of discussion this week was focused on resources. The video I chose to share deals specifically with water, which, like Mrs. Lil expressed, is arguably the most important resource out there and will be the cause of our next World War. So, researching the progress and direction that our world is heading towards conserving this precious resource is very fitting. "The Altered Nozzle" allows us to use less water to accomplish the same desired task. Overall, this is super important as a first step in the long process: reducing. The "Water Seer" similarly takes advantage of the surroundings to extract water, unpolluted. Both of these devices seem to be important first steps in the grand goal of sustaining our planet!
 * Connection **

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