12.. Nauka i technika

Odkrycia naukowe, wynalazki

Ćwiczenie 1.

Przeczytaj teksty. Wykorzystując zawarte w nich słownictwo, odpowiedz na pytania.

Palm-size computers and special-purpose devices will continue to flourish in the near future, forecasts Allen Parrish, associate professor of computer science at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. The market for new technologies such as Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) will rise as people look to computers to aid in daily tasks like making dining reservations or ordering in restaurants. "For example, there maybe restaurants where you can order on your own PDA," he notes. "Voice input is going to become popular on PDAs."

Parrish believes that computers will assume a different shape in order to increase function. These smaller, lighter units will give people greater ability to read e-mail in public places without needing a dial-up connection.

In the entertainment realm, Parrish thinks that high-definition TVs will continue to grow in the market over the next few years.

Law enforcement will update its technological devices, Parrish predicts. "When you get a speeding ticket, your driver's license may be scanned, the data entered on a handheld computer, and then transmitted to the court system."

A Brave New World

*on the cusp - on the verge (tu: u progu)

By all accounts, we are on the cusp* of a great technological revolution or revolutions. In the last several months, newspapers and magazines have run cover stories on the technological marvels about to transform our lives. None of this apparently is science fiction but what leading scientists in their respective fields are predicting as fact. Some of the changes will be of the James Bond variety, like auto-piloted cars and nonlethal phaser guns. Other inventions will have broader effects. New virtual-reality games and the Internet will complete a process that TV inaugurated, the metamorphosis of our civilization into one increasingly driven by images and sentiment rather than words and thought. And other changes in the offing will be even more dramatic, going to the very heart of what it means to be a human being. Discoveries just over the immediate horizon in human genetics and computers threaten (or promise, depending upon your perspective) to usher in, as strange as it may sound, a 'posthuman' era.

Not long ago the editors of the New York Times advised: 'We need to remember that the measure of a civilization is not the tools it owns but the use it makes of them.' Well, of course. But one must also keep in mind that technology is more than a mere tool; it inevitably shapes our world, regardless of whether we use it wisely.

Pytania do dyskusji

1. Give examples of gadgets or special-purpose devices that have appeared in recent
years. Which claim about them is more true in your opinion? Why?

a. They really are making our lives easier.

b. They are merely another short-lived fashion and a way for people to show off.

c. People are becoming overly dependent on them instead of relying on their own
memory or skills, for example.

2. In what way do you think technology has changed our understanding of what it means to be a human being?

3. Do you agree or disagree with some scientists' predictions about technological developments that will take place in the future? Justify your opinion.

Scientific 'Giants'

Nobel Laureates have used their enormous curiosity, intellectual brilliance and creative drive to make discoveries that have greatly expanded our understanding of the universe. We have made great strides in science and medicine as a result of the work of Nobel Prize winners. Discoveries related to the formation of ozone have enabled us to take crucial steps to protect our environment, and the invention of the integrated circuit has revolutionized the way we exchange information globally. In medicine, Nobel

Laureates have developed knowledge about the immune system that helps fight cancer and insights about nerve cell signals that open new avenues for treating neurological and psychiatric diseases. These are just a few of the breakthroughs we can attribute to Nobel Prize winners.

The Nobel Prize has provided many role models for young people who aspire to be tomorrow's leading scientists. You may remember the words of Isaac Newton: 'If I have seen further,... it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.' Our Nobel Laureates are all giants.

Not Very Nobel

Every year, the Annals of Improbable Research awards Ig Nobel prizes to individuals whose scientific discoveries 'cannot or should not be reproduced'. With the Nobel judges in 2000 honouring the inventor of the microprocessor, it seems fair that in the same year the Ig Nobels salute another high-tech innovator: Chris Niswander, for creating PawSense, software that sounds a warning when a cat walks across a keyboard. "It's surprising no one had ever thought of it, and it's surprising that someone bothered to think of it at all," says Marc Abrahams, creator and organiser of the awards and editor of the journal Annals of Improbable Research.

Pytania do dyskusji

1. What are the qualities that should characterize a true scientist? Justify your opinion.

2. How can you explain the appearance of the Ig Nobel prizes awarded for ignoble (= bad and dishonest) scientific research? What do you think is the message that their creators convey to scientists all over the world? To what extent is this message a warning (if so, against what?), ora reprimand (if so, for what reasons?), or both?

Scientists and technology

Every scientific breakthrough

owes a debt to good old-fashioned brainpower. Newton's laws, Einstein's theory of relativity -the list is as long as that physics textbook you never read in high school. But often, science needs a boost, and for the past 20 years it's received a big one from technology. Sophisticated computer systems have let biologists unravel the genetic code of life, astronomers map the universe, and meteorologists improve the accuracy of their forecasts. But discoveries are an unending cycle: There's always something more we can learn about that thing we just discovered.

Today, American scientists are extracting an amazing amount of data at lightning speed, from experiments in the lab and from satellites in space. Rapid advances in technology have reenforced America's standing as the most sophisticated scientific community in the world.

But analyzing data still demands staggering computational abilities. We have the capability to accomplish some amazing feats, but not every feat, and many scientists find themselves waiting for technology to catch up. What's more, as , researchers become more dependent on technology to do their jobs, they need to interact more intensely with computer scientists and engineers.

Scientists have been making breakthroughs for centuries, but now they're using technology to share the fruits of their knowledge. The Human Genome Project, for example, has made its working draft available at no charge to anyone with Internet access.

Despite the enlightenment it brings, technology cannot answer the hardest question of all: How should we manage and apply the information that science tells us about ourselves? The solution is up to all of us, as we continue to be awestruck by great discoveries and struggle with their implications.

Pytania do dyskusji

1. Give examples of some scientific breakthroughs and explain why you regard them as important.

2. What are, in your opinion, the conditions for a scientific discovery or invention to de­serve breakthrough status?

GM Food

The techniques of modern genetics have made possible the direct manipulation of the genetic makeup of organisms. In agriculture, genetic engineering allows simple genetic traits to be transferred to crop plants from wild relatives, other distantly related plants, or virtually any other organism.

Recombinant DNA technology thus has brought a new precision to the process of crop development, which traditionally selects desired traits through crosses between crops and their wild relatives (a laborious and relatively imprecise method).

Genetic modification can be used in many ways to control a variety of traits of plants, and the consequences of one manipulation may be completely different from another based on the traits modified.

The appearance of genetically modified foods in the marketplace has resulted in a firestorm of public debate, scientific discussion, and media coverage. A variety of ecological and human health concerns come with the new advances made possible by genetic modification.

Benefits

Genetically modified foods (GM

foods or GMF) offer a way to quickly improve crop characteristics such as yield*, pest resistance, or herbicide tolerance, often to a degree not possible with traditional methods. Further, GM crops can be manipulated to produce completely artificial substances, from the precursors to plastics to consumable vaccines.

Risks

The power of genetic modifi­cation techniques raises the possibility of human health, environmental, and economic problems, including unanticipated allergic responses to novel substances in foods, the spread of pest resistance or herbicide tolerance to wild plants, inadvertent toxicity to benign* wildlife, and increasing control of agriculture by biotechnology corporations.

""yield - the amount of crops that are produced (zbiory, plony)

""benign - gentle and harmless (mający dobroczynny wpływ)

Pytania do dyskusji

1. What are the advantages and drawbacks of introducing genetically modified food into
our everyday menu?

2. What consequences do you think GM food may have for human health and the
environment?

Animal experiments

Since animal experiments began, people have expressed concern that the animals may suffer, or that too many are sacrificed in the name of science. Since 1822 legislation has limited the way that doctors and scientists can use animals, and the rules have been growing stricter. More than 2.7 million live animal experiments were authorised in Great Britain in 2002. This number has halved in the last 30 years.

Does animal testing work?

Yes

No

*TB - tuberculosis (gruźlica)

Animal testing has helped to develop vaccines against diseases like rabies, polio, measles, mumps, rubella and TB*.

Antibiotics, HIV drugs, insulin and cancer treatments rely on animal tests. Other testing methods aren't advanced enough.

Scientists claim there are no differences in lab animals and humans that cannot be factored into tests.

Operations on animals helped to develop organ transplant and open-heart surgery techniques.

Animal experiments can be misleading. An animal's response to a drug can be different to a human's.

Successful alternatives include test tube studies on human tissue cultures, statistics (e.g. patient data) and computer models.

The stress that animals<endure in labs can affect experiments, making the results meaningless.

Animals are still used to test items like cleaning products, which benefit mankind less than medicines or surgery.

Is animal testing morally rights?

Yes

No

Human life has greater intrinsic value than animal life.

Legislation protects all lab animals from cruelty or mistreatment.

Millions of animals are killed for food every year - if anything, medical research is a more worthy death.

Few animals feel any pain as they are killed before they have the chance to suffer.

Animals have as much right to life as human beings.

Strict controls have not prevented researchers from abusing animals although such instances are rare.

Deaths through research are

absolutely unnecessary and are morally no different from murder.

When locked up they suffer tremendous stress. Can we know they don't feel pain?

Pytania do dyskusji

1. Express in your own words the arguments for and against animal experiments in science as presented in the passage.

2. Are you in favour or against scientific experiments on animals? Why?

Obsługa i korzystanie z urządzeń technicznych

Ćwiczenie 2.

Przeczytaj tekst. Wykorzystując zawarte w nim słownictwo, odpowiedz na pytania.

Follow all of these instructions carefully for error-free floppies.

1. Never leave diskettes in the disk drive, as data can leak out of the disk and corrode the inner mechanics of the drive. Diskettes should be rolled up and stored in pencil holders.

2. Diskettes should be cleaned and waxed once a week. Microscopic metal particles can be removed by waving a powerful magnet over the surface of the disk. Any stubborn metallic shavings can be removed with scouring powder and soap. When waxing the diskettes, make sure the surface is even. This will allow the diskette to spin faster, resulting in better access time.

3. Do not fold diskettes unless they do not fit into the drive. 'Big' diskettes maybe folded and used in 'little' disk drives.

4. Never insert a diskette into the drive upside down. The data can fall off the surface of the disk and jam the intricate mechanics of the drive.

5. Diskettes cannot be backed up by running them through the xerox machine. If your data is going to need to be backed up, simply insert two diskettes into the drive. Whenever you update a document, the data will be written on both diskettes.

6. Diskettes should not be inserted or removed from the drive while the red light is flashing. Doing so could result in smeared or possibly unreadable text. Occasionally the red light remains flashing in what is known as a 'hung' or 'hooked' state. If your system is 'hooking' you will probably need to insert a few coins before being allowed access to the slot.

7. If your diskette is full and you need more storage space, remove the disk from the drive and shake vigorously for 2 minutes. This will pack the data enough (Data Compression) to allow for more storage. Be sure to cover all the openings with scotch tape* to prevent loss of data.

8. Access time can be greatly improved by cutting more holes in the diskette jacket. This will provide more simultaneous access points to the disk.

9. Diskettes may be used as coasters for beverage glasses, provided that they are properly waxed beforehand. Be sure to wipe the diskettes dry before using, (see item 2 above)

10. Never use scissors and glue to manually edit documents. The data is stored much too small for the naked eye, and you may end up with data from some

other document stuck in the middle of your document. Razor blades and scotch tape may be used, however, provided the user is equipped with an electron microscope.

11. Periodically spray diskettes with insecticide to prevent system bugs from
spreading.

*scotch tape (AmE) -sellotape (BrE) (taśma klejąca)

Pytania do dyskusji

1. The passage is meant to be ironic. Retell the instructions in the way they should sound.

2. What are the reasons why many people are unwilling (or unable) to use modern technology (mobile phones, computers, credit cards, VCRs, etc.)? How can they be persuaded (or helped) to use the benefits of modern inventions?

Współczesne środki przekazu i przetwarzania informacji

Ćwiczenie 3.

Przeczytaj teksty. Wykorzystując zawarte w nich słownictwo, odpowiedz na pytania.

Freedom of speech and media censorship

'It might be said that a society enjoys freedom of expression when, through the various means of communication, its citizens are able to criticize the powers-that-be - not only the political powers, but also the economic, military and ecclesiastical powers, as well as the representatives of various social institutions such as trade unions and, of course, the information media themselves.'

Mario Vargas Llosa in UNESCO Courier, 1990

*bias - a strong tendency to favour one person over others (stronniczość, uprzedzenie)

As a youngster I was greatly impressed by an uncle who told me that, although he was a conservative, he read a socialist newspaper. He wanted to be presented with viewpoints and arguments different from his own so that his mind would remain challenged and alert.

We in the West are rightly proud of our freedom of speech. It is fundamental to all other freedoms. Freedom, by definition, means choice. Freedom of thought therefore implies the possibility of choosing between different ideas, perspectives and points of view. George Orwell understood this in his nightmarish depiction of totalitarianism, 1984. A government that controls the raw material of thought (language and information) can enslave people's minds without them even realizing they are not free.

Regimes that lie and ruthlessly control the media to prevent their lies being exposed are nothing new. Stalin, Hitler and Mussolini used these tactics. So did Saddam Hussein. Compared to the efforts of these

tyrants, Western democracies' attempts to control the media seem half-hearted, almost benign. Consider media monopolies. In Rupert Murdoch's native Australia, the best-selling newspaper in every major capital apart from Perth is owned by his News Corporation. Worldwide he owns 175 newspapers as well as the gigantic Fox television network. But even media monopolies may be less effective than self-censorship when it comes to stifling freedom of thought. We can be our own 'secret policemen' denying ourselves exposure to 'dissident' ideas.

Thanks to new technology we have access to a wider range of information sources than ever before. Yet there is evidence to suggest that people are simply choosing to tune into the channels which reflect their own biases*.

It is easy to understand why Doing so makes us feel good and confirms our sense that we are right and others are wrong. Yet, if we truly care about freedom, we should follow my uncle's example.

Pytania do dyskusji

1. What are the positive and negative consequences of freedom of speech in contemp­orary society?

2. Objective and unbiased information media (newspapers, radio, television) do not exist. Do you agree or disagree with this view? Why?

Twentieth-century media drama­tically changed the way we look at and understand the world. The 10 major media developments that helped to do this were;

RADIO. The first regular radio broadcasts began in America in 1909. In 1920, KDKA in Pittsburgh broadcast the first scheduled programs and transmitted the first live radio broadcast. In 1927, NBC had begun two radio networks and CBS was formed. Radio made it possible for anyone anywhere to hear news events around the world.

TELEVISION. The first commercial broadcast took place in 1939, when television made its American debut at the New York World's Fair. Regular TV broadcasting began in the US in 1941. With TV, we not only could hear the way the world sounded, but also see it in action.

COMPUTERS. Intel built the single-chip microprocessor in 1971. The first mass market personal com­puters were launched in 1977. The laptop computer was introduced in 1981. Computers have changed the way people work, think, create, and communicate.

THE WORLD WIDE WEB AND THE INTERNET. The WWW revolutionized the Internet in 1989 and, four years later, the Internet launched the information highway. Instant communication and instant access to information became available to anyone with a computer. It revolutionized how we got and handled information and changed the way we communicate.

THE PAPER COPIER. Xerox manufactured a plain paper copier in 1959, making it possible to instantly copy any document and save or send a facsimile of the original*. Anyone could become an instant publisher, and information was easily made available.

COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITES. The first communications satellite was placed in orbit in 1963. They revolutionized the delivery of information.

VIDEOCASSETTE RECORDERS. In 1964, Japan created the VCR for home use. By 1991, three out of four U.S. homes owned VCRs, as the videocassette machine became the fastest-selling domestic appliance in history. Anyone could record anything off TV and save it for future viewing.

THE TRANSISTOR. Three Bell Labs scientists invented the transistor to replace vacuum tubes during 1947-48. By 1952, Sony offered the first miniature transistor radio. Two years later, transistor radios made it possible to listen to news and other programs anywhere.

THE PAPERBACK. In 1935, Penguin produced a paperback book that sold for the price of 10 cigarettes and altered the way people used the written word. Paperbacks revolutionized the way people read books.

CORDLESS TELEPHONES. In 1967, the first cordless telephones received calls. By the late 1990s, they could be found everywhere. They revolutionized the way people communicated with each other.

'quintuple - increase five times (wzrosnąć pięciokrotnie)

The most important media events are open to debate. They must include the following:

Orson Welles' radio adaptation of The War if the Worlds caused a national panic in 1938 and showed the power of a new medium as well as the thin line that separates reality from fiction, a thin line now almost obliterated through docudrama and the Internet.

The creation of Cable News Network, a 24-hour news channel in 1980. By 1991, CNN dominated news

coverage worldwide, showing off its live TV coverage during the GulfWar by switching easily between world capitals. For the first time, the world's population instantly saw a potential global disaster in the making.

Pac Man and MTV The former launched the video game craze and the latter began broadcasting music videos. Both created new media that would influence generations of teenagers with a rapid-fire, interactive array of images that shot out of the TV.

.

1. Which three media developments in the 20th century do you regard as the most important? Why?

2. Which media events have been the most influential in recent years? Explain and justify your opinion.

Dodatkowe zagadnienia do dyskusji

1. How have the following inventions revolutionized our way of life? Mention as many
of their applications as possible.

a. the television

b. the computer

c. the (cordless) telephone

2. What are the benefits and drawbacks of computers? Present and justify your opinion.

3. Necessity is the mother of invention. Explain the meaning of this saying. Give ex­amples to illustrate your explanation.

4. Do you agree or disagree with the statement that the progress and development of human civilization has been possible thanks to the necessity to fulfill human needs and to satisfy human curiosity? Justify your opinion.

5. Do you agree or disagree with the statement that nowadays people have become overiy dependent on technology? Justify your opinion.

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