Robotics Exercise.

Having the experience to build a robot was very exiting, we have been working on it for a couple of weeks. It is a good and different way to learn & understand how velocity, power acceleration and others work.  The Robot we build was a Lego Robot – Lego Brick which has a “brain”. There are ports A B & C which are connected to the motors and then connected then there is a USB that is connected to the computer and a control panel to make the robot move.

When testing and experimenting with the robot I later learned that If one port is connected to the motor (wheel) the robot will go and do circles. If two are ports (AC) are connected to the motor it will go in straight lines. The robot will also turn if the power levels are different. The power level is the one that sets the force of how much energy it will put into the particular side or sides of the motor. My partner (Angelica) and I were able to make the robot go into a 12 inches circle with a power level in port A of 5 and in Port C 38. We also made the robot sing by clicking on the option of sound and then selecting a song, which are already in the program. We tried different things one was to make the robot go one way (in a circle ) stop and then turn to the other way (in a circle), but we were not successful to achieve this goal.

Overall this experience was a unique experience. It is a hands down learning experience, but at the same time fun and different. I can’t wait for others exiting activities that will take place in this class.

Self Driving Cars

Self-driving cars are just as its name says cars that drive themselves. They don’t need the control of a human being.  Before the year 2000 most people and car companies believed it was impossible for cars to drive themselves. They established competitions but the prototypes were barely making it a few miles when the competitions were 150 miles long. As of today, the predictions for self-driving cars in the market are going be around 2017 and 2020.
Self-driving cars have both positive and negative effects. On one hand we know that with these cars we can get rid of a few cars at home and just have one self-driving car that distributes everyone in their destination and later picks them up. This way the gas consumption in a household is much less. Not only will these cars help with the bills, but they may also help with the communication in a family. The family members will be able to socialize much more since the parents don’t have to be driving, and can focus much more on the kids. It can be seen as a “private driver” and there will no longer be the need to get license and no longer need to wait in the RMV office.
Even though Self-Driving Cars has a positive effect it also has negative ones, for example the amount of accidents that may be caused because of this. These cars may also be used as acts of terrorism, they may use them as bombed cars and since they do not have a driver by doing this they wont  have to sacrifice anyone. There is also a chance that the software running the car gets compromised and the car creates an enormous catastrophe involving other cars and humans. Not only can there be physical accidents, but also driving related jobs will no longer be needed, bus drivers and taxi drivers will be unemployed and they will no longer bring food to their home, they will have to find another way of living.

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/197262-its-2015-self-driving-cars-are-more-than-a-promise
http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/196384-google-unveils-its-first-built-from-scratch-self-driving-car
http://mashable.com/2015/02/13/self-driving-cars-ownership/

Natural gas hydraulic fracturing is a production in which injects a mix of water, particles, and chemicals underground to create fractures through which gas can flow for collection. Hydraulic fracturing stimulates wells drilled into these formations, making profitable otherwise prohibitively expensive extraction. Within the past decade, the combination of hydraulic fracturing with horizontal drilling has opened up shale deposits across the country and brought large-scale natural gas drilling to new regions.

Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”, is the process of drilling and injecting fluid into the ground at a high pressure in order to fracture shale rocks to release natural gas inside. The water is transported to tanks and then deposited with a lot of chemicals. This brings contamination; during this process, methane gas and toxic chemicals leach out from the system and contaminate nearby groundwater. Methane concentrations are 17x higher in drinking-water wells near fracturing sites than in normal wells. Due to this contaminated well water is used for drinking water for the nearby cities and towns.

In my opinion it is understandable why this drillings are necessary, nut they need to be more care full of where are they doing these gas drillings, because there have been more that 1,000 documented cases of water contamination bringing sensory, respiratory and neurological damage due to ingested contaminated water.

http://www.earthworksaction.org/issues/detail/hydraulic_fracturing_101#.VO_qfmY4rbU

http://iehn.org/overview.naturalgashydraulicfracturing.php

http://www.dangersoffracking.com/

The automobile industry is one of the companies that has been benefiting due to the advance in technology. As years go by we see how the gas price just goes up and up and the economy down. Thanks to the new technology cars have been able to develop and improve their gas per mileage efficiency. Society and federal agencies are the ones asking for this improvement so that is cost effective for consumers due to the rough economy.

We can see how the gas per mileage system has improved in cars in a record showing how in 2011  an average vehicle consumes 22.4 miles per gallon and how in 2013 it went up to 23.6 miles per gallon, on average and how it was projected to get to 24 miles per gallon by the end of 2013.

In my opinion while technology advances better is for the car industry in terms of the gas per mileage since now the cars are being constructed in a way that people are much more appealed to cars that are able to reach more millage with fewer gas.

Using fewer gas to reach longer destinations is anything that anyone can ever dream of. Everyone wants to save money on gas, and be able to go to further places on less gas.

This also is great for the environment since by reducing the use of gas to travel to longer destinations we also take care of the environment.

“New cars and trucks sold in the United States have become steadily more efficient since 2004 — after fuel economy stagnated during the 1980s and 1990s.” This suggest that since the 80’s and 90’s oil prices have risen up so much that cars have now been developed in such a way that they are more fuel efficient.

• Advanced Technology Vehicles: The Road Ahead accessed 19 Feb. 2014 Archived September 26, 2007 at the Wayback Machine
• “Gasoline Tops $5 A Gallon In Gorda”. Theksbwchannel.com. Retrieved 2015-02-19.
• “Fuel Prices Increase Nationwide as California Braces for $4/Gallon Gas in ’08”. Awmanet.org. Retrieved 2015-02-19.

Measles is an infectious viral disease causing fever and a red rash on the skin, typically occurring in childhood, which is very contagious. Currently California is experiencing an outbreak of this virus. The California Department of Public Health reported that there are now 107 cases in the state, with one case now confirmed in Solano County.The virus symptoms begin with a fever that lasts for a couple of days, followed by a cough, runny nose, pink eye, and a rash. The rash often appears on the face first, along the hairline, and behind the ears and then affects the rest of the body. People are usually already contagious for about 4 days before the rash starts to 4 days afterwards.

Measles vaccine is highly recommended in the state of California. Without the vaccine chances to get contagious with measles is a high risk. “Some children are allowed by California law to skip immunizations if a parent submits a personal beliefs exemption (PBE) or medical exemption (PME) at enrollment” ( California Department of Public Health). 

The Wayne County Department of Public Health emphasizes how important is for parents to get their children vaccinated. The measles vaccination is part of the routine measles, mumps and rubella vaccine that children should get at 18 months old.

Even though the Health Officials highly recommend vaccine California law requires two doses of the measles vaccination before kindergartners can enroll, but parents may obtain exemptions for the vaccines if they say the inoculations conflict with their personal beliefs.  This raises an important question, should parents risks other children health by not immunizing before entering kinder garden or should they rethink their moral beliefs when it comes to saving other children’s life. brings contradiction into beliefs and

Parents don’t want to vaccinate due to several reasons. Some are that vaccination doesn’t guarantee that your child will not get the illness while the Vaccine Companies make huge amount of profits from Vaccines and your doctor makes a steady income off of Vaccines. The dosage that doctors use to vaccinate a baby and an adult is the same one.

In my opinion it doesn’t really matter that companies and doctor make profit out of these vaccines, it is their job. Even though the vaccine doesn’t protect your children 100% at least they are going to be a tittle bit more immune towards the viral. In my conscious I know I did something to prevent it and not only protecting my children but others that surround them, instead of not doing anything. The risk of the vaccines causing problems is very small, so as a parent it is clear that the best choice is to vaccinate your child.

Citation:

http://www.cdph.ca.gov/HealthInfo/discond/Pages/Measles.aspx

http://thenewsherald.com/articles/2015/02/12/news/doc54d4c3929e75c196614505.txt

http://www.rense.com/general87/indu.htm

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-measles-outbreak-solano-county-20150209-story.html

Ebola is known as the viral disease from the ebolavirus. Even though the virus epidemic started in West Africa years ago, in December 2014, there were confirmed cases of people who were diagnosed with ebola in the United States (Case Count).

When ebola reached the United States, nearly every newspaper and media news alerted the people from the country. Every type of international travel (air and sea), was controlled to not let people enter with the virus, or any symptom of the virus. The U.S. government made announcements and took lead on the subject to control, if not end ebola at its source.

The office of the Press Secretary from the White house released this key strategy to handle this epidemic:

• Controlling the epidemic at its source in West Africa;
• Mitigating second-order impacts, including blunting the economic, social, and political tolls in the region;
• Engaging and coordinating with a broader global audience; and,
• Fortifying global health security infrastructure in the region and beyond, including within the United States (The White House Fact Sheet).

The United States invested $350 million dollars in aid for countries such as Liberia, Sierra Leone, and other countries in Africa. The government took this situation in a pro-active versus reactive strategy. Amongst the measures the United States took to help internationally, the government sent medical personal (about 140), for international assistance. Amongst the medical assistance, the US sent more than 300 military and healthcare personal.

As for domestic response, the government took strong measures and investments in developing more clinical trials in developing efficient and effective vaccines to stop the virus. The government released up dated information several times a day to the public and even internationally.

In my opinion the United States took a serious action towards the Ebola threat, because they were starting to get affected by this epidemic and saw and experienced in first hand how awful this virus is. Africa has been threatened and experiencing this epidemic during years and finally the United States did something to solve this terrible decease.

Citations:

“2014 Ebola Outbreak – Case Count”. CDC. December 15, 2014. Retrieved Feb. 2, 2015.

FACT SHEET: The U.S. Response to the Ebola Epidemic in West Africa. (n.d.). Retrieved February 3, 2015

Cases of Ebola Diagnosed in the United States. (2014, December 16). Retrieved February 3, 2015