TED Video: Using nature to grow batteries

1) What is the TED organization about?
TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with two annual conferences -- the TED Conference in Long Beach and Palm Springs each spring, and the TEDGlobal conference in Edinburgh UK each summer (Taken from http://www.ted.com/pages/about)

2) What is the purpose of their website and how does the functionality of their site support that?

Purpose: to inform the public about new innovations in Technology, Entertainment, and Design (TED).

The site shows popular TED talks in the front page, and even has a filter for you to watch what interests you (Technology, Entertainment, etc.)

3) As Engineers and Problem Solvers, which topic areas (the choices from the "Show talks related to:" section on the sidebar) are of most interest to us? Justify your answer.
All of the topics (Technology, Entertainment, Design, Business, Science, and Global Issues) should be of interest to engineers. Engineers are problem solvers, and as illustrated by the 12 step design method, all of the above topics are a part of that.

4) Based on your previous answer, what are 3 talks (videos) on the site that appear like they would be of most interest to you as an Engineer/Problem Solver? Justify your choices.

"Carlo Ratti: Architecture that senses and responds" because architecture and engineering go hand in hand, focusing on the design part of engineering.

"Mick Ebeling: The invention that unlocked a locked-in artist" because it involves problem solving by creating something to help out the need of an individual.

"Eythor Bender demos human exoskeletons" because like the previous video, it involves solving the problem of being able to make a disabled person walk again.

5) Each student will watch a unique video. Claim your video on the following period specific posts: 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th. If no one else has claimed your video there yet, leave a comment on that post to call the one you want. If someone else has already claimed the talk, go back and pick another one. Watch the video. Create and post a bulletized outline of the key issues presented in the talk.

Angela Belcher discusses how she was able to program viruses to create a nanoscale battery.

Viruses can be used for more than batteries, could be used as little robots that create stuff for us.

Programmed viruses have also created clean hydrogen fuels and very efficient solar cells.

Bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria, could be used to alter bacteria to our liking too.

Could even self-assemble.

Belcher jokes about virus-powered cars as a very real possibility.

6) How could you get involved in the field/technology/issue you chose to hear about? What experience/skills/training/education would you need to learn to get involved with this field?
To get involved, I could do more research on viruses that create things like this. One of the branches of engineering I have considered in the past is nanoengineering, and using viruses to help out is ingenious. I can imagine all the applications for using viruses in this way, like possibly helping regrow the structure of an arm by using viruses. The programming of viruses could definitely be something big in the future.

Problem 3.3.1 Sorting Project Day 1

Work on the marble sorting project started today, and Jon Henry and I came up with some ideas for what could work. The following is rough draft sketch #1:

I was looking at the 3 marbles on top for the idea, and noticed that the glass marbles are bigger than the others. The marbles move down a ramp, the metal one is sucked in by a magnet, the glass one is trapped at one point because it is too big and pushed by a piston, and the wooden one is small enough to make it to the end. This efficiently separates the 3 marbles.

Rough Draft Sketch #2:

This was Jon Henry's idea for the project, he will explain it on his blog.