Mars Archives - Viterbi Conversations in Ethics

Spring 2021 Weekly News Profile

Implications of Interplanetary Translocation

The recent successful landing of NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars gives us cause to consider the extent to which we are ethically obligated to prevent the “contamination” of other planets with earthly life.

Fall 2020 Weekly News Profile

Galactic Law and Ownership

Michael DeLucia November 9, 2020 Law Mars Property Space SpaceX

11/9/2020 Space exploration is as fascinating as it is frightening. With plans to explore Mars and beyond proposed for upcoming decades, sooner rather than later,…

Fall 2019 Weekly News Profile

Should we Colonize Mars?

Isabel Yarwood Perez October 14, 2019 Colonization Mars

10/14/2019 Since the discovery of liquid water flowing on its surface, the idea of colonizing Mars has become more and more feasible. Elon Musk and…

Podcast Summer 2024 Summer 2024 VCE Podcast

Facial Recognition

VCE July 6, 2024

Hosted by Aryan Shah, Deep Shah, and Kayden-Harmony Greensteinwith with guest Jenna German

Podcast Summer 2024 Summer 2024 VCE Podcast

Space and Mars Colonization

VCE July 6, 2024

Hosted by Aryan Shah, Deep Shah, and Kayden-Harmony Greenstein, with guests Nakul Malik and James Austin

Podcast Summer 2024 Summer 2024 VCE Podcast

Infrastructure

VCE July 6, 2024

Hosted by Aryan Shah, Deep Shah, and Kayden-Harmony Greenstein, with guests Karsyn Wendler and Allison Mendoza

Spring 2023 Volume 6 Issue 3

Redefining Societal Progress for Engineers

Natasha Singh March 29, 2023

Dr. Erin Cech’s critique of the National Academy of Engineering’s Grand Challenges focuses heavily on the pitfalls of technological determinism. This paper supports Cech’s argument through a discussion of current examples of the consequences of technological determinism, such as the Black Lives Matter and Me Too movements, medication accessibility, and facial recognition technology. Though the consequences of a zealous engineering mentality are commonplace in our society, there are also current examples of tech companies neglecting to develop technology due to its possible negative consequences.

Spring 2023 Volume 6 Issue 3

How the Technical Sciences and the Social Sciences Should Go Hand-in-Hand

Charles Liu March 29, 2023

The fourteen Grand Challenges presented by the National Academy of Engineers (NAE) fail to involve ethics as a part of the solution to these issues. Traditionally, engineers have kept their work separate from its societal implications. Engineers and their non-technical counterparts have an obligation to view all technical solutions under the moral lens of ethicists and futurists. Going forward, engineers must be aware of their limits and work with experts outside of their fields to develop solutions that will be cognizant of society as a whole.

Spring 2023 Volume 6 Issue 3

The Lies We Tell to Inspire: Responding to the Engineering Double Standard

Shub Gaur March 29, 2023

The National Academy of Engineering’s Grand Challenges are critiqued by Dr. Erin Cech for what she describes as a double standard in engineering. Though Cech rightly discusses a lack of accountability and acknowledgement within the profession, her argument lacks nuance. The Grand Challenges were ultimately a promotional tool meant to inspire the next generation of engineers, yet Cech holds them to a standard of being professional rules and guidelines. This paper will discuss the distinctions that Cech’s argument lacks, including placing an unreasonable amount of responsibility on engineers and overstating their influence.

Spring 2023 Volume 6 Issue 3

The Grand Challenges: Authorial Particularism and a Lost Opportunity for an Equitable Society

Huzaifa Aslam March 29, 2023

The fourteen Grand Challenges were developed by the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in an effort to expose future generations to the wide range of innovation and technology that they could one day take part in. As detailed by the Challenges’ creators, the list includes challenges that are most significant to our current world. Dr. Erin Cech’s critique of the Grand Challenges is that a lack of diversity in the panel of engineering experts led to a lack of oversight into issues that are actually pertinent to developing nations. Cech’s argument that the Grand Challenges are a missed opportunity for social justice holds validity, but her mischaracterization of the lack of diversity requires further consideration.

Fall 2024 Featured Weekly News Profile

The Day Before: The Ethical Lesson of Misleading Game Marketing

Mo Jiang August 28, 2024

The highly anticipated MMO survival game, The Day Before, faced significant backlash upon release due to misleading marketing tactics by Fntastic, the game developers. The discrepancies between the polished trailers and the actual state of the game, coupled with allegations of fabricated footage and unfair labor practices, have led to widespread disappointment among players. This incident highlighted the need for greater transparency and accountability within the gaming industry, emphasizing the importance of ethical marketing practices to rebuild trust between developers and players.

Summer 2024 Weekly News Profile

Neuralink’s Gamble: Public Response After First Clinical Trial’s Failure

Mo Jiang August 10, 2024

Neuralink’s Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technology, brain chip, has demonstrated its potential to restore mobility to those with paralysis. ⁤⁤However, the brain chip’s technical challenges and ethical dilemmas have begun to surface after its first clinical trial. ⁤⁤The human brain and machine connection raises heated ethical discussions about BCI’s potential implications. ⁤

Summer 2024 Weekly News Profile

CrowdStrike’s Global Computer Crash Fiasco

Janessi Diaz July 29, 2024

CrowdStrike released a faulty system update that caused computers to crash on a large scale all over the world. From grounding flights, to delaying medical treatment, the outage reveals the dangers of putting all your cybersecurity defenses into one company.

Summer 2024 Weekly News Profile

Life and Morality: The Ethical Debate of Normothermic Regional Perfusion in Organ Transplants

Mary Karapetyan July 23, 2024

Organ donations and transplants are responsible for saving the lives of thousands of people per year. However, these procedures come with numerous complications, including ischemia-reperfusion, which can lead to transplant failure. A new method called normothermic regional perfusion (NRP) is gaining more attention for its potential to reduce some of these complications compared to more traditional methods. Despite its potential, NRP is sparking ethical debates among the medical community.

Summer 2024 Weekly News Profile

Chandra X-ray Observatory: A Stellar Legacy at Risk

Mo Jiang July 18, 2024

NASA has shocked the scientific community with its proposition to decommission the Chandra X-ray Observatory. This has sparked a heated debate about the ethics of shutting down such a crucial scientific instrument. Given Chandra’s groundbreaking discoveries, historical significance, and potential for future research, many have come together to reverse the decision and preserve this invaluable asset for current and future generations of scientists and space enthusiasts.