Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Comparative Media Studies/Writing, 2017. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / "September 2017." Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 105-109). / Over the past several decades, computers have allowed for the increasingly voluminous and rapid ingest of images. These images, made for machine legibility, are called "operational images," a term coined by Harun Farocki. They are made for machines, by machines; they are not made to represent an object, but are part of an operation. Yet these operational images are only the most recent chapter in a longer history of logistical and instrumental use of images. Through the history of cartography, surveillance, and reconnaissance runs a long tale of instrumentalization, a history of calculable images primed for machine-readability. Before computers allowed for a truly "operational" image that could be harvested and interpreted independently, there were many other logistical images -- only these predecessors kept humans in the operational loop. These days, so-called deep learning allows for a new development in the operational image -- not only are humans excluded, but machines are performing inscrutable assessments; they interpret images and provide conclusions while their rationales remain opaque. These images are part of an interpretive turn. This sort of image use is difficult to demystify, confront, and confound. To contemplate effective strategies, it helps to look at the broader context of subversion of the logistical image, reaching back to early instances of artistic intervention to help inform the present and future. / by Nathan Saucier. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M. in Science Writing)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Comparative Media Studies, 2013. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 21-23). / Humans have been entranced by butterflies for thousands of years. This thesis parses apart the complex interactions between humans and butterflies, focusing specifically on people whose lifestyles are significantly intertwined with butterflies. On-site research observing butterfly collectors, breeders, museum curators, photographers and conservationists was conducted, along with historical and biological research. The effect of humans on butterflies was also analyzed, and it was discovered that enthusiasts often have unexpected impacts on butterfly populations. / by Sarah Mae Yu. / S.M.in Science Writing

Thesis (S.M. in Science Writing)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Comparative Media Studies, 2013. / Vita. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 27-30). / The next era of medicine will be one of personalization, scientists and physicians promise. Personalized medicine is a refined clinical approach in which clinicians will utilize your genomic information to help you prevent disease, and tailor targeted therapies for you when you fall ill. This is the future science has slowly been approaching. However, the human genome is not enough, not unless we can decipher its language. One ambitious study to this effect is the Personal Genome Project, led by Dr. George Church at Harvard Medical School. This project will eventually recruit 100,000 volunteers to donate their genomes and a full body of information concerning their biological health. With this data, Church hopes others can cross-analyze these profiles and better determine the role in disease of each gene of the human genome. However, the Personal Genome Project is as much a study in the ethical, legal and social aspects of genomic studies as it is an effort toward personalized medicine. Church envisions a future where privacy cannot be guaranteed. Society is becoming more open and technology is more invasive than ever. Considering this, Church has informed his participants that their information will likely not remain anonymous. With their fully informed consent, he has in turn made all this data public, to promote open science. This ethical approach raises several important questions about expansive genomic studies. The scientific community will have to decide on an approach that will eventually deliver personalized medicine. On one end of the spectrum, there is Church's open approach, and the other, more security, more firewalls and more legislation. In order for personalized medicine to become a reality, society will have to prepare itself for our ever-changing ethical, technological and scientific landscape. / by Abdul-Kareem H. Ahmed. / S.M.in Science Writing

Thesis: S.M. in Science Writing, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Comparative Media Studies, 2015. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 20-26). / The sense of smell is a mystery-and the human sense of smell is a particularly inscrutable one. Only in the last 25 years have scientists identified the molecules in our noses responsible for detecting odors, and since then, the unexpected discovery of a new family of olfactory detection molecules has complicated the story. When the complexities of the human brain, human motivation, and human variation are added to the mix, the question of what smells do to and for us becomes even more perplexing-and intriguing. Essayist and physician Lewis Thomas wrote that understanding the sense of smell "may not seem a profound enough problem to dominate all the life sciences, but it contains, piece by piece, all the mysteries." Scientists from all fields are coming together to solve these mysteries of olfaction, and their investigations are starting to reveal that the sense of smell can move us in ways that we aren't even always aware. While it's clear that scientists are far from closing the case on smell, it is also becoming increasingly obvious that the power of the human nose is nothing to sniff at. / by Rachel A. Becker. / S.M. in Science Writing

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