Card 5 Science and technology(2,3,4)

Card 5 Science and technology(2,3,4) 

The advantage of science is that there are no state boundaries to it. Constant exchange of ideas among the scientists has always existed. The 19th and the early 20th centuries were the time of extremely important scientific discoveries. Some of them were of practical character, like the first steam engine, electricity and radio. The others represented ideas and theories. For example, Charles Darwin published two books: “On the Origin of Species” and “The Descent of Man”. The books stated that man came under the same laws as all other living things.  Another man whose ideas radically changed the mentality of people in the 20th century was Tsiolkovsky. He worked out the theory of space flights. In April 1961 Yuri Gagarin became the first person to orbit the Earth. Throughout the 20th century science and technology brought a lot of improvements into people`s life. Medical researches help to control or prevent many devastating diseases.

Computers are used to assemble, store, process and reproduce information. The computer age is just dawning. No one can say how far the computer revolution will go or what its long-term consequences may be.

I suppose in the near future the mankind may carry out such space projects as making interplanetary flights to Mars and sending probes to Venus and Mercury.

Some of the urgent problems scientific minds are working at nowadays are finding a cure for serious diseases like cancer and AIDS, finding alternative sources of energy as well as studying particles smaller than atoms and creating new materials.

A real breakthrough of the 21st century is nanotechnology. It’s the technology of materials of microscopic size. Nanotechnology can be used to improve the efficiency of traditional materials, to seek and destroy cancerous tissue. There is even speculation that materials can be developed that will allow machines to repair themselves in the same way as the human body does. However, some people are already expressing their concerns that nanotechnology may be difficult to control. For example, nanoparticles are so small that they can cross biological barriers and penetrate tissues and organs which can cause DNA mutation. I think scientists should continue their research as nanotechnology can make people’s lives better. However, they must be cautious not to overdevelop the technology before we know all of the risks and possible dangers.