The Impact of Science on Your Life

How the Science Impact in Our Life?

Did you know that if you were born 100 years ago, you would probably not have lived past your first birthday? What a thought! When your parents were born, there were some places in the United States in which about one half of all infants died in their first year of life due to contaminated water and milk. This could still happen if your communities didn't have sanitation plants. Have you ever had a shot of penicillin to fight infection? Before the discovery of penicillin in 1940, infection was difficult to control, and many people died. Did you brush your teeth this morning? Before studies on why and how teeth decay, many people did not brush. Decayed teeth were pulled at an early age. Now most water systems are fluoridated, and tooth decay has decreased. Before modern techniques in food processing, such as irradiation of packaged foods, many diseases were acquired from contaminated foods. Sanitation, penicillin, fluoridated water, and irradiated food are examples of technologies that have extended lives. Technology is applied science, or the use of scientific knowledge to solve everyday problems or improve the quality of life.

Living with Technology

Years of research in the life sciences have enabled people to benefit directly from science economically, nutritionally, medically, and environmentally. Advances in agriculture allow you to have fish, meat, bread, and milk regularly. Because of agricultural research, farmers produce great quantities of healthful food at reasonable prices in many countries of the world. Have all of the advances in the life sciences been beneficial? With the many great advances have also come many problems due to unforeseen side effects. For example, you probably run a much greater chance of developing cancer than your ancestors of 100 years ago. The technology involved in the development of pesticides, food preservatives, and artificial sweeteners has contributed to increased incidence of cancer. Are the technologies the problem? Or is it how they are used that creates problems? Now scientists are turning their energy to the environment. Many technologies seem to have a strong impact on the environment. Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with each other and the environment. Ecological problems such as global warming, the warming of Earth due to the buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and deforestation are sources of concern being studied by scientists. Have these problems been caused by our own technology? Can we make use of all the knowledge we've gained through research to prevent these problems? Do we really know that technology is to blame for the problems of the environment? What is there in the framework of science that can help answer these questions?

Critical Thinking

How do your body reflect while  you are thinking?

Whether you become a scientist or not, you are going to solve problems all your life. Most of the problems you encounter will be solved in your head by a process of sorting through ideas to see what will or will not work. Suppose you make a batch of chili and it turns out badly. What went wrong with the chili? Even though you followed the usual recipe, it just didn't seem to have a zippy taste. After thinking for a bit, you realize that you left out one very important ingredient—chili powder! How did you figure out that lack of chili powder was the problem? Without being aware of it, you probably used a form of problem solving called critical thinking.
Critical thinking is a process that uses certain skills to solve problems. For example, you identified the problem by mentally comparing the not-so-great batch of chili with other batches of chili you've eaten. First you separated important information from unimportant information. For instance, you may have realized that temperature had little to do with the flavor of the chili. You may have examined your assumption that you followed the recipe correctly. After looking at the recipe again, you concluded that it was chili powder that was missing.

Finally, you probably went one step further and analyzed your conclusion. Would lack of chili powder have made the chili taste blah? If your answer was "yes," then you may have solved the problem. "Flex Your Brain" is an activity that will help you think about and examine your way of thinking. "Flex Your Brain" is a way to keep your thinking on track when you are investigating a topic or problem. It takes you through steps of exploration from what you already know and believe, to new conclusions and awareness. Then, it encourages you to review and talk about the steps you took. "Flex Your Brain" will help you improve your critical thinking skills. You'll become a better problem solver, and your next batch of chili will taste great.


Technology
Cockleburs and Space Shuttles One day a Swiss engineer returned from a walk and became interested in the cockleburs sticking to his socks. He studied the cockleburs under a microscope and found hundreds of tiny hook and loop structures. As a result of this observation, he invent-ed Velcro. Nylon filament is woven into loops and coated. Half of the loops are cut to form hooks. Velcro has come to have many uses. It has been used to secure artificial hearts. In the space program, more than 64 500 cm2 of Velcro tape have been used on each space shuttle. Velcro is also used to strap on blood pressure cuffs, on sneakers, and is found in astronauts' helmets as a nose scratcher.