Monday, October 20, 2008

The Past: Technology, Process, and Preservation


The timeline “Utilizing the Past” dissects various technologies that all connect in interesting ways with the past. For example, formaldehyde and plastination are more literal translations of preserving history, as the development of these chemicals and processes results in the preservation of organic tissue. The offshore oil platform represents the deep reliance on ancient, fossilized plant and animal matter (petroleum), allowing the past to directly influence everyday life in an extremely dynamic way.

The Large Hadron Collider takes particle physics to an unfathomable level, as scientists collide lead protons at incredible rates in an effort to mimic the Big Bang. Researchers also hope the experiment provides clearer insight on the mysterious “God particle”, the Higgs Boson, which gives all matter mass. And lastly, new tests have been conducted on salamanders’ fascinating genome in an effort to shed light on their limb/organ regeneration capabilities. By learning these molecular “tricks” in the amphibian’s genes, scientists hope to employ these abilities to humans, allowing old brain and heart tissue, or possibly even lost limbs, to grow back new.

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