When a new technology improves our quality of life, its unethical abuse may also causes big problems. Therefore researchers need to consider social effect before they practice a wide-scale use of a new technology. In order to prevent their work from unethical abuse, researchers need to put efforts on predicting and minimizing potential misuse of a new technology.
To predict and minimize the potential abuse of a technology, firstly we need to predict who will control this technology; who will be affected by this technology after it is released. What is the incentive of the controller to use this technology; whether it can control this technology in a safe and ethical using scale? What is possible effect of the technology? Is the negative side of its effect controllable? Are those who may be affected, including not only human beings but also other species and the environment, vulnerable to the potential harm? Is there any protection that can be provided for them? All of these questions need to be answered before researchers release a new technology so that they can predict the possible problems and try to make them up or came up with protecting plan.
Besides prediction of possible problems, rules and policies during practice are crucial of preventing unethical abuse. A good series of rules and policies can guide the use of the technology to a way that benefit people and minimize the potential harm. A new technology should be practiced within a fully considered and strict system, which is built before it is officially released. Only in this way, can we guarantee that the use of the technology is under our control and will not be abused by someone for unethical purpose.
We create a new technology to benefit ourselves; therefore we should try our best to avoid negative effects of it. Making a careful prediction of a technology’s future and establishing a sophisticated system as well as setting strict rules can help prevent it from being unethically misused. Even though we cannot perfectly avoid abuse, we should take whatever proper action to reduce the probability of being harmed by a new technology.
2008-10-17
Writing Difficulties in Engineering Classes
Being an engineering student does not mean that formulas and graphs is all my life, good English writing skills are needed because there are always lab reports, essays questions and scientific papers that waiting there. Thankfully, the most essential point for scientific writing is accuracy and efficiency. So we do not need to bother too much about the variety of sentence structures or vocabulary. However, there are numerous rules and conventions of scientific writing to follow. And most of the professors and lecturers who grade our writing products have suffered from the strict writing rules and then become quite strict with us. I wrote a scientific essay for GEK1501 when I did my bridging course. During the process of producing the essay, I find three biggest problems in my writing which are poor vocabulary and overflowing content
Though for scientific writing, a colorful expression is not expected, expressions must be accurate. Besides rules like avoiding using of first person and avoiding of unnecessary qualifiers, one of the most important points to make a lucid expression is to choose the most proper word. Which word to choose when you are describing the action in the lab report? Which word to choose when you are trying to say reducing the region of a particular object? In this professional word, changing of one word can completely change the meaning of the whole sentence and make it untrue. To choose the most suitable and precise word is essential for a good scientific writing.
Chinese style of writing prefers a large number of ideas. The more points you raise, no matter how much supporting materials you give, the better the writing is. However, for an English style of writing, it needs full interpretations for one single idea. For this reason, the number of the ideas is limited when there is a word limitation. Therefore, we must choose the most useful points. Moreover, the content needs to be organized in a clear and logical way. As we usually do lots of preparing reading before we write an essay, or we want to mention as many ideas as possible to catch the correct points in the exams, the content overflow often happens. In most cases, content overflow may make the writing unbalanced and incoherent.
Good writing skills are necessary for an engineering student. To get a higher mark in the writing assignment, I need to enlarge my vocabulary bank and improve the ability of choosing efficient ideas.
Though for scientific writing, a colorful expression is not expected, expressions must be accurate. Besides rules like avoiding using of first person and avoiding of unnecessary qualifiers, one of the most important points to make a lucid expression is to choose the most proper word. Which word to choose when you are describing the action in the lab report? Which word to choose when you are trying to say reducing the region of a particular object? In this professional word, changing of one word can completely change the meaning of the whole sentence and make it untrue. To choose the most suitable and precise word is essential for a good scientific writing.
Chinese style of writing prefers a large number of ideas. The more points you raise, no matter how much supporting materials you give, the better the writing is. However, for an English style of writing, it needs full interpretations for one single idea. For this reason, the number of the ideas is limited when there is a word limitation. Therefore, we must choose the most useful points. Moreover, the content needs to be organized in a clear and logical way. As we usually do lots of preparing reading before we write an essay, or we want to mention as many ideas as possible to catch the correct points in the exams, the content overflow often happens. In most cases, content overflow may make the writing unbalanced and incoherent.
Good writing skills are necessary for an engineering student. To get a higher mark in the writing assignment, I need to enlarge my vocabulary bank and improve the ability of choosing efficient ideas.
2008-09-29
Biofuels, for sustainable transportation
Following is a summary of the article Biofuels, for sustainable transportation, produced by the national renewable energy laboratory of the US in June 2000.
Biomass is defined as all the Earth’s vegetation. It is the oldest renewable source that humans use. Biomass has a wide range of resources like agricultural, industrial and living residues, all kinds of crops. It is a good energy source due to its renewablity, even distribution and the environmentally friendly exploiting technologies. The energy stored in biomass need to be transferred into a usable form before it can be using. Transportation fuels are made from biomass through biochemical or thermochemical processes.these biofuels include ethanol, methanol, biodiesel, biocrude, and methane.
Knowing that petroleum, which is the main fuel in America currently, has many disvantages, it is necessary for America to develop the technology produce and use biofuels. The consideration is nationally security. More than 53% of America’s petroleum is imported. That can be considered as a peril point for the nation. Biofuel, which can be produced by domestic biomass and renewed, can help to ease the dependence of oil import. The second consideration is economy. The development of biofuel can create new jobs and help to build a stronger energy market in America. Most importantly, biofuel is more environmental friendly than petroleum. Since biofuel is carbon neutral, there is no net emission of CO2, which is the main green house gas that causes global warming, through its using process. The planting of biomass can also help to maintain and even improve the quality of air and water. Moreover, the production of biofuel provides a way to dispose agricultural and forestry wastes.
Now, ethanol and biodiesel are commercially available. As people realize the benefits of biofuel, the demand will be increasing. The researches that focus on converting biomass to energy will lower the cost of biofuel, increase its resources and keep it sustainable. The National Biofuels Program lead by The U.S. Department of Energy works with industry to research, develop, demonstrate, and facilitate the commercialization of U.S. technologies, and aims to realize the large-scale use of biomass-based transportation fuels.
Biomass is defined as all the Earth’s vegetation. It is the oldest renewable source that humans use. Biomass has a wide range of resources like agricultural, industrial and living residues, all kinds of crops. It is a good energy source due to its renewablity, even distribution and the environmentally friendly exploiting technologies. The energy stored in biomass need to be transferred into a usable form before it can be using. Transportation fuels are made from biomass through biochemical or thermochemical processes.these biofuels include ethanol, methanol, biodiesel, biocrude, and methane.
Knowing that petroleum, which is the main fuel in America currently, has many disvantages, it is necessary for America to develop the technology produce and use biofuels. The consideration is nationally security. More than 53% of America’s petroleum is imported. That can be considered as a peril point for the nation. Biofuel, which can be produced by domestic biomass and renewed, can help to ease the dependence of oil import. The second consideration is economy. The development of biofuel can create new jobs and help to build a stronger energy market in America. Most importantly, biofuel is more environmental friendly than petroleum. Since biofuel is carbon neutral, there is no net emission of CO2, which is the main green house gas that causes global warming, through its using process. The planting of biomass can also help to maintain and even improve the quality of air and water. Moreover, the production of biofuel provides a way to dispose agricultural and forestry wastes.
Now, ethanol and biodiesel are commercially available. As people realize the benefits of biofuel, the demand will be increasing. The researches that focus on converting biomass to energy will lower the cost of biofuel, increase its resources and keep it sustainable. The National Biofuels Program lead by The U.S. Department of Energy works with industry to research, develop, demonstrate, and facilitate the commercialization of U.S. technologies, and aims to realize the large-scale use of biomass-based transportation fuels.
2008-09-14
Grammar--Article (with references)
Here I choose article as my topic not because it is easy, actually, it is not easy not all! Though the rules of using article seem to be very simple, it is not easy to use them correctly, especially for the non-native speakers.
The basic rules of using article
1. Indefine articles : a, an
A and an are used when we first introduce something or somebody. They refers to those that has not been specifically mentioned.
Eg. There is a book on the table.
The difference between a and an is that an is used before a noun that begins with a vowel sound. It can be tricky because sometime we may not notice it when we see words like “hour”, “eight” (which happened in the latest text editing exercise). So be cautious!
2. Define articles: the
The is used when we know the listener know what we are referring to.
Eg. Could you please pass the book to me?
Again, it is easy to say but hard to do.
3. No articles
No articles are used when we talk about things in general.
Eg. People here like football.
We do not use aricles before name of counties, unless we indicate multiple areas
the Netherlands, the Philippines, the British Isles
or contains the words states, kingdom, republic, union.
4. Confusion??? Frustration!!!
There are irregular use of articles that always confused me.
Do we need articles before uncountable nouns? It depends!
We need someone with __a __ good knowledge of Chinese.
They have __a__ deep distrust of the authorities.
The school gave me __a__ good education.
She has _a__ good understanding of the subject.
He has __a_ great love of his job.
It's __0__hard work.
She speaks __0__ good Italian.
Do we need articles before geographical names? It depends!
With the :
Mountain ranges or groups,
Groups of islands,
Deserts
Seas
Oceans
River
No article:
Mountains,
Continents
Towns
Cities
Villages
Parks
Zoos
Streets
Lakes
Churches
Cathedrals
Airport
Underground or subway stations
Bus stations
Others
events like The green revolution
Society: usually, there is no article before society. But when we mention a particular society, we use the.
The society of historical archeology
At Last
Usually we determine which article to use only by “sound right”. So practice more!
References:
http://www.usingenglish.com/handouts/
This is a very useful website, with explainations and examples of all kinds of gramma topics.
The basic rules of using article
1. Indefine articles : a, an
A and an are used when we first introduce something or somebody. They refers to those that has not been specifically mentioned.
Eg. There is a book on the table.
The difference between a and an is that an is used before a noun that begins with a vowel sound. It can be tricky because sometime we may not notice it when we see words like “hour”, “eight” (which happened in the latest text editing exercise). So be cautious!
2. Define articles: the
The is used when we know the listener know what we are referring to.
Eg. Could you please pass the book to me?
Again, it is easy to say but hard to do.
3. No articles
No articles are used when we talk about things in general.
Eg. People here like football.
We do not use aricles before name of counties, unless we indicate multiple areas
the Netherlands, the Philippines, the British Isles
or contains the words states, kingdom, republic, union.
4. Confusion??? Frustration!!!
There are irregular use of articles that always confused me.
Do we need articles before uncountable nouns? It depends!
We need someone with __a __ good knowledge of Chinese.
They have __a__ deep distrust of the authorities.
The school gave me __a__ good education.
She has _a__ good understanding of the subject.
He has __a_ great love of his job.
It's __0__hard work.
She speaks __0__ good Italian.
Do we need articles before geographical names? It depends!
With the :
Mountain ranges or groups,
Groups of islands,
Deserts
Seas
Oceans
River
No article:
Mountains,
Continents
Towns
Cities
Villages
Parks
Zoos
Streets
Lakes
Churches
Cathedrals
Airport
Underground or subway stations
Bus stations
Others
events like The green revolution
Society: usually, there is no article before society. But when we mention a particular society, we use the.
The society of historical archeology
At Last
Usually we determine which article to use only by “sound right”. So practice more!
References:
http://www.usingenglish.com/handouts/
This is a very useful website, with explainations and examples of all kinds of gramma topics.
2008-08-22
Engineers Cannot Always Play a Solo
From a layman point of view, I think the collaboration between engineers and other professions, such as scientists, educators, is of great significance.
It is an undeniable truth that engineers have made a tremendous contribution to human beings in the past history, ranging from industry field to human life. Take the airplane as an example. Since ancient time, people have tried every means to realize their dream of flying. And now, due to engineers, the dream comes true and the benefit of airplane, in terms of time and money, is unprecedented. However, we cannot neglect the effort and sweat which made by scientists and other professions. Let’s focus on the example of airplane again. Without scientists, I venture to say all the fundamental theories will not exist, not to mention all different kinds of advanced applications. To elaborate my point of view, let’s investigate the design of the airplane. As we all know, the upper surface of the wings of the airplane is curved, whereas the surface below is a plat one. This is primarily resulting from the theory that airplane is elevated by the difference of air pressure. Thus, we can perceive that the theory established by scientists plays a vital role in our modern society.
As engineers play a more important role in our society, it is very necessary for engineers to integrate other elements into their works. For example, art is a very promising component that can be added to the work of engineers.
All in all, it is impossible and unwise for engineers to play the solo from time to time. Only with the help of other professions can engineers tap the utmost potential they possess to contribute to the society.
It is an undeniable truth that engineers have made a tremendous contribution to human beings in the past history, ranging from industry field to human life. Take the airplane as an example. Since ancient time, people have tried every means to realize their dream of flying. And now, due to engineers, the dream comes true and the benefit of airplane, in terms of time and money, is unprecedented. However, we cannot neglect the effort and sweat which made by scientists and other professions. Let’s focus on the example of airplane again. Without scientists, I venture to say all the fundamental theories will not exist, not to mention all different kinds of advanced applications. To elaborate my point of view, let’s investigate the design of the airplane. As we all know, the upper surface of the wings of the airplane is curved, whereas the surface below is a plat one. This is primarily resulting from the theory that airplane is elevated by the difference of air pressure. Thus, we can perceive that the theory established by scientists plays a vital role in our modern society.
As engineers play a more important role in our society, it is very necessary for engineers to integrate other elements into their works. For example, art is a very promising component that can be added to the work of engineers.
All in all, it is impossible and unwise for engineers to play the solo from time to time. Only with the help of other professions can engineers tap the utmost potential they possess to contribute to the society.
2008-08-21
MY VERY FRIST POST~~~
i have never imaged that i would create my first blog for an academic purpose, though i just did so.
i have never consider myself as a blog person who would like to write down his/her feelings, record the impressive moment and share with others, though it seems that i need to do so.
anyway, now call me a BLOGGER!!
i hope writing this academic blog will not be too surfer and it can really help me.
"so i improved my writing skill" I hope I can say so when i think back in the future.
PS. one thing interesting is that although this blog was created for English writing, in the whole creating process, everything in the website were in Simple Chinese. the guide was written in Chinese and the default language was Chinese. even my IE mysteriously became Chinese version. 太神奇了太神奇了！！
i have never consider myself as a blog person who would like to write down his/her feelings, record the impressive moment and share with others, though it seems that i need to do so.
anyway, now call me a BLOGGER!!
i hope writing this academic blog will not be too surfer and it can really help me.
"so i improved my writing skill" I hope I can say so when i think back in the future.
PS. one thing interesting is that although this blog was created for English writing, in the whole creating process, everything in the website were in Simple Chinese. the guide was written in Chinese and the default language was Chinese. even my IE mysteriously became Chinese version. 太神奇了太神奇了！！
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