CST MODULE 7

 Part 1: Video Project

The final video project is definitely something new for me as I never have done videos on a topic that I am researching. So far as a team we have been communicating through discord. For me the hardest part so far has been researching the topic as edge computing is a concept that is hard to fully grasp without any prior knowledge of IT and networking, The process so far has been 50/50 as far is trying to fully understand what it is we have to deliver on the assignment since we have to appeal to a professional and general audience. This is definitely a challenge as I still do not fully understand the concepts of edge computing so trying to explain it a kid seems very difficult as it is a complicated subject on its own. 

Part 2: 

The greatest machine that never was

The video starts off by talking about computers and their history. The speaker, John Graham-Cumming tells the story of Charles Babbage's mechanical, steam-powered "analytical engine".  This engine works in a similar manner to a computer. It is an enormous machine that is stacked with gears. Each gear has numbers on them and the machine could even perform calculations. When ever something went wrong in the machine it had a bell that will sound off. He later met Ada Lovelace a mathemitican who told him that the machine was capable of doing more than just computing numbers. It could also play music. This machine was the foundation of what computers are today. 

The next software revolution: programming biological cells

I also watched another video which was interesting. Sara Dunn is computational biologist and goes into depth about a new software revolution which is called the living software. She talks about how the cells in your body are like computer software: they're "programmed" to carry out specific functions at specific times. If we can better understand this process, we could unlock the ability to reprogram cells ourselves. The problem is programming living systems is alot more complicated than programming engineering systems. She gives a nice reference about how programming living systems work with a plant. Basically a plant has make due with the cells on its leaves since plants dont have brains. Plants respond to environments and make decisions. So in theory there has to be a program that runs inside plants that responds to input signals and how to distribute it. She is trying to figure out what cells compute and how do we uncover biological programs. She mentions an embryonic stem cell which are really unique because they can transform into type of cell. For example, a heart cell, lung cell, brain cell, etc. She does observations of cells to see if it can emerge into program humans can write. She was able to discover the first molecular program of embryonic stem cells. She wants to keep pushing the programming and hopes there is alot of support in the field. As understanding the programming of biologicals cells as it can make massive strides towards helping humanity as a whole.

Overall I learned about different formats and techniques when presenting. There are is a variety of templates one can use to really make the presentation stand out. This is something I know I will have to work on as I haven't done much video presentations in my life. I really like when people add animations or video snippets to their presentations. It really captures a viewers attention.