Brain mapping

Brain mapping is a new technology under development and is said to be very promising in understanding the function of our brain activities. Human brain is a highly sophisticated system that people have studied centuries ago. This myth is can hopefully be solved soon.
However, as this new technology surfaces, there can be many unethical abuse that can harm our society. One of them is the use of it to get the knowledge of other people. For example when such technology is accessed by my colleagues in the company, they can easily read my mind and get the information on my research work without any effort. In such a situation, the research data that I spent much time on can easily be stolen. This is unethical to my intellectual property. Knowledge is one of the most valuable targets to people using such technology. When they get the knowledge or data of my research, they can publish the work or report before I do.
Possible solutions to minimize the abuse of such technology include restricted access and restricted anonymous application. Restriction of access is an important policy to minimise abuse. Not everyone should be granted access to such technology. Facility of brain mapping should be kept with authorised organisations such as government, hospitals or official research organisations. This measure can minimize the chance of unethical abuse. Another measure to minimise unethical abuse is to render the brain mapping device such that there can be no anonymous run. A special can be set in the system and whenever the device is activated, the signal will be sent to the person being scan so that he is aware of the ongoing scanning sequence. In such a way, one can be vigilant if unauthorised scan is initiated.
Brain mapping is a breakthrough in human technology. However, preventive measure must be complete so as to minimise unethical abuse of this powerful tool to harm our society.

difficulty in writing engineering essays

Writing has always been an important part in engineering research. When I study engineering courses, I must also practise writing scientific essay. However, writing has not been my strength and there are some areas in which I make common mistakes.
One of these mistakes is in organisation. Argumentative essay are very particular about organisation. When presenting an argument, it is very important to be able to present the ideas in a organised manner. Sometimes I tend to be confused in the middle of my writing when my ideas are presented half way. Therefore, thinking logically in English is important for writing so as to be able to present your ideas clearly.
Another common mistake is grammatical; the usage of words can be difficult for me. It can be misleading when I use the words in the wrong way and the ideas become unclear. Therefore, is important to use the right word at the right time.
When writing engineering related essays, there are difficulties in terms of sentence structure. The ideas of engineering must be presented in such a way that they are easy to understand. Therefore, it is challenging for me to put across my points such that the reader can understand my stand. One way to improve this area is to read more on scientific reports and essays so that the way to present can be part of my writing habit.
There are some other techniques to improve my writing. Including making English an important part of my daily life. This can make my English language come more natural during writing. Another way is practice writing, more practice can increase my accuracy when illustrating my stand and ideas.
There can be quite a few problems when I do my writing in engineering classes, including the language itself and sentence structure which plays a more important part in engineering essays than narrative essays. Therefore, a clear mindset is also important. However, I believe these problems can be resolved through practice and more reading.

grand challenges

Nothing is comparable to the energy from the sun, but we are using only a tiny fraction of capability of solar power. Solar power is alternate energy source which is clean and sustainable in the long run. Current solar cells are offering an efficiency of only 10 to 20 percent, which, when compared with the cost can be very expensive. There are new experiments showing that the use of nanocrystals can effectively increase the efficiency of solar cell to a level of around 60 percent, however, new ideas are needed to transmit energy generated this way into circuit.
One important aspect in solar power development is in making it economical. “This area is where breakthroughs in the science and technology of solar cell materials can give the greatest impact on the cost and widespread implementation of solar electricity,” Caltech chemist Nathan Lewis writes in Science. Material purity is very important so as to maximize flow of current through the cell. There are new system designs in both physical structure and material component to increase the efficiency of solar cell. However, improvements are still needed so that such systems are economical.
While being clean and powerful, we still face problem of storage when we use solar power. Solutions are needed to reserve energy for circumstances when sunlight is not readily available. Technology in energy storage is very important. A possible solution is conversion of energy using sunlight like photosynthesis in plants, so as to produce fuel for energy generation. Another possible is to generate energy out of natural resources, like producing hydrogen from water using solar power. If new catalyze could be found to improve efficiency, the power source could be proved powerful and environmentally friendly.
If we can minimize the cost of solar power, it can make incomparable contribution to our civilization.

References
Lewis, N.S. 2007. Toward Cost-Effective Solar Energy Use. Science 315(5813): 798-801.

Why people resist new technology

Human beings tend to resist newly developed technology because human beings are afraid of change. Reliability is one of the major concerns. When new technology is developed and launched, people are often unsure if it will work as expected and if it can be readily available whenever needed. It is not easy for people to trust cutting edge technology. For example, in Singapore, NEWater is a new technology that purifies waste water to produce clean water. This technology tends to give people an impression that it has too many restrictions and that it may not always be available. Though the water supply may be increased, the situation that Singapore lacks fresh water sources still remains. For many people, NEWater is only treated as an aid or a second choice. Once our natural water supply runs low, we can hardly rely heavily on NEWater. Another reason people resist new technology is that we feel so used to our 0lifestyle that they see no need for changing to a new one. More often than not, we are content with what we already have. This is because once they choose to use a new technology, they have to adapt to a new lifestyle again, which may not be a good idea for many people. Such a mindset is even more common among the elder generations; it is hard for them to understand the reason to change from, for example, fossil fuel to solar power, since they have had little difficulties with the old energy source over the years. For them, it is simply too troublesome to adapt to the new energy source. Another group of people who reject new technology fear that the technology is so powerful that one day it may replace human beings. Computers are a good example; more robots and artificial intelligence are being developed to the extent that the computers seem to be capable of doing more jobs which were once done by humans. Fearing the loss of their jobs to computers, many people would rather live without them. In conclusion, concerns about reliability, reluctances to change and fears of being replaced are some of the key reasons which cause human beings are resisting new technology.

Grammar mistake discussion

Among all the grammar mistakes, one of the most commonly found in my essays is subject verb agreement. One of the reasons behind is that there is no similar structure in my mother tongue language. The use of subject verb agreement is that for singular subject we should use a singular verb while for plural subject we would use plural verb. This sounds easy but one very important key is to correctly identify the right subject which the verb describes. It is common for me to confuse the multiple ideas in the sentence. For sentences which contain dependent clauses, it can sometimes distract me from the original subject. In academic writing, this is even more common. As a result, I tend to make mistakes in subject verb agreement, since the subject of the verb is not think of what follows is “a lot of…” there is another type of word that easily seen. Another mistake could be the use of uncountable subject such as controversy or evidence. It can be mistaken when we use phrases like “there is a lot of controversy…” during writing, I can easily write “there are…” when I tend to confuse me, words such as “everyone”, “each”, or “neither”. Subject verb agreement with these words can be difficult too. There are situations in which I cannot identify the singularity of the ideas these words describe. The way to improve subject verb agreement is through practice and reading, the more I expose myself to the environment, the easier I can get used to way to use it. This grammar mistakes can surely be reduce if there is sufficient practice and exposure.

1.Tick one of the two given choices in the brackets to complete the sentences in the passage.

Vitamin and Health

The use of vitamin supplements and herbs (1) (is) becoming increasingly popular among Americans. While many studies claim that vitamins and herbs can improve health, there (2) (is) a lot of controversy about their safety. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (3) (does) not regulate vitamins and herbs. Most experts (4) (believe) that herbal supplements are mild and somewhat harmless. Still, anyone who (5)(takes) too much of a vitamin or herb could suffer negative side effects. For example, some medical problems (6) (have) been linked to overuse of ephedra, an herb taken by people to lose weight. Some research (7) (suggests) that Vitamin C may help prevent cancer. However, people who (8) (take) more than 1,000 miligrams of vitamin C daily (9) (experience) diarrhea or kidney stones. Advertisers say that the herb "kava kava" (10) (reduces) anxiety and insomnia, but using large amounts of kava kava (11) (is) not wise as muscle, eye or skin problems could result. The danger of long-term use of vitamins and herbs (12) (is) still unknown.

There (13) (is) a lot of evidence that vitamin-rich foods (14) (are) beneficial. However, whether the use of supplements (15) (is) helpful or not is still being debated. Most people (16) (are) able to get all the vitamins they need in the foods they eat. A daily diet that (17) (contains) foods from the 4 groups should supply all the nutrients a person needs. Eating 5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily (18) (is) said to provide all the essential vitamins we require. The best way to get the necessary vitamins and minerals (19) (is) naturally, through a healthy diet. Talking to your doctor before taking supplements (20) (is) advisable.

Adapted from: http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj/quizzes/9901/cw-svagreement.html

Answer Sheet (Subject-Verb Agreement)

Level: Intermediate:

Passage 1

Vitamin and Health

(1) is

Explanation: “Use” as subject (singular)

(2) is

Explanation: controversy (uncountable here), be verb takes singular form in “there be” structure

(3) does

Explanation: name of an organization (singular)

(4) believe

Explanation: “most experts” (plural) as subject

(5) takes

Explanation: after indefinite pronouns “anyone, anything, anybody, etc.” the verb is always singular.

(6) have

Explanation: “some medical problems” as subject here (plural)

(7) suggests

Explanation: “research” is uncountable noun taking a singular verb

(8) take

Explanation: “people” as collective noun (plural)

(9) experience

Explanation: “milligrams” (plural) as the noun head

(10) reduces

Explanation: “the herb” (singular) as subject

(11) is

Explanation: Gerund (using large amounts of…) as subject, takes a verb in the singular form

(12) is

Explanation: “the danger” as subject (singular)

(13) is

Explanation: “evidence” uncountable here

(14) are

Explanation: “foods” as subject (plural)

(15) is

Explanation: “the use” as subject

(16) are

Explanation: same as 8

(17) contains

Explanation: “diet” uncountable

(18) is

Explanation: same as 11

(19) is

Explanation: “the best way” as subject

(20) is

Explanation: same as 11

Practice adapted from: http://courses.nus.edu.sg/courseware/ITSELF/downloadexercise/gsui.doc

Engineers of the future

Over hundreds of years, human civilization had been dependent on the development of engineering and industries. As we stepped into the 21^st century, one can be absolutely certain that human society was built on the foundation of science and technology. On every face of the earth, technology is contributing to the society, in transportation, accommodation, health care, education and entertainment. Every element of modern life relies on technologies, and can easily fall apart upon failure of these technologies. In such high-tech era, there can be little doubt that engineering still is, and will continue to be one of the most important pillars of the architecture of civilization.

As our technological advancement progresses, however, engineers of the new age now face challenges which are unlike the ones in the past. Researchers nowadays have been raising critical issues of developmental sustainability of earth. Reports are saying that our development has been progressing as too fast a pace that our planet can hardly withstand. Energy consumption rises to new level every day, trying to making our life better every day. Fossil fuel, known to be the blood of industry, has always been the major power that drives our industrial advancement. However, recent years, studies had shown that our fossil fuel reserve is being consumed at a rate such faster than its replenishing rate. This pose a threat we can never underestimate. At the same time, while we burn fossil fuel for energy, we are also generating waste gas which encourages development of global warming. Carbon released into our atmosphere prevents excess heat from leaving the earth. As a result, arctic ice starts to melt and sea level raises.

Research projects have been carried out in hope to find cleaner and more sustainable energy sources. Solar power being one of the most promising choices is being developed by many countries around the world. One attractive feature about solar power is its environmental friendliness. However there are still drawbacks in solar power which need to be resolved.

Therefore, engineering in the 21^st century definitely face tough challenges and difficulties, but its importance shall be recognised even more than the past.