The Blog Project

See, English 110 exists outside of the classroom. We'll be sharpening our analytical minds in this heated arena: blog-dom.

The point of the blog is for you to practice making 1) observations and 2) analyses on the material you come across in your day-to-day virtual lives, and then to share your analytical experiments with your classmates. Take this opportunity to explore the course theme and broaden your understanding of your chosen sources. Social media, YouTube, and online articles are rife with opportunities for interesting analysis. So impress us with your brilliance, hipness, and pop-cultural savoir faire. This is all about practice (and nerd/cool points, of course) so really go for it.

Let's say to post (roughly) once every other week, which makes a minimum of 5 posts total. There's no limit to how much you can post. But I'll remind you: if you start honing your analytical skills here, your grade and your chances for success over the next few years will markedly improve. Try stuff out--this is graded simply on doing it. If you're truly exploring, you'll probably make some analytical trips that you look back on and are slightly embarrassed about--and that's a good thing.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Reversing ALS

http://gizmodo.com/5844786/deadly-progression-of-als-reversed-in-an-amazing-stem-cell-first?tag=science

Whenever someone is diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease) it is essentially a death sentence. With most people with ALS dying in 2 to 3 years from when they were diagnosed, if it possibly the worst diagnosis that someone could receive. Though through medical advances and the use of controversial stem cell use, doctors have reversed the effects of ALS.

Stem cell research has and will continue to be a hot topic. Though if stem cells are able to reverse effects of one of the deadliest diseases, then what else could it cure?

Finally on a semi-related note Lou Gehrig might not have had ALS, the disease which bears his name. Brain trauma can mimic the symptoms of ALS and Gehrig was known to suffer multiple concussions.
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1 comment:

  1. chris.myersOctober 2, 2011 at 5:03 PM

    This discovery touches upon the ethics struggle that we see more and more today. As new technology is created we are questioned if it is morally acceptable to use. The clash between groundbreaking discoveries and morals is growing as technology is able to redefine formerly terminal diseases.

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