The Importance of Science and Technology in Today’s Modern Society

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Science deals with the study of almost anything you can think of in this world. From the smallest of creatures walking on land up to the largest animals swimming underwater, science definitely has something to do with it. In today’s modern society, science gives us the luxury to enjoy the things that it brings to our daily lives. The industrialization of the society has brought a great deal of convenience in terms of transportation, that is, the emergence of airplanes and high-powered vehicles have made it possible for a 5 hour ride to become as short as 30 minutes. Aside from this, the discovery and invention of household appliances have made cleaning an easy task to do. It has removed the hassles that manual cleaning brings. Machines have already replaced human beings in doing high-risk tasks such as performing surgeries through the emergence of surgical robots, which can perform with a tremendous level of accuracy, reducing the chances of the occurrence of hand tremors which human surgeons have a possibility to commit. Scientific research attempts to provide answers to life’s never ending questions and inquiry. Research in science has paved the way for the brilliant inventions and discoveries. It attempts to explore and understand how the world evolves each day. It tries to interpret the occurrences in nature and acquire knowledge about nature through research and experimentation. It strives to understand the complexities of life and find ways to make life easier and much more convenient. It attempts to move towards progress and innovation. The importance of technology lies in the benefits of technology on society. The advancements in technology have revolutionized the world from all walks of life. Technology has made it possible for a person from the other side of the world to be able to communicate to another person even though they are oceans apart. In other words, communication through technology has made the world a much smaller place. There have been so many advances in technology over the last decade. With scientific research, knowledge grows deeper and deeper. With this, new things are discovered every second, every minute, every hour, and every day.

Then why are science and technology so important in today’s modern society? Is it because it provides a luxury with regards to how we do things in life? Is it because it is essential for society to progress? On the other hand, is it because without its presence, we will all remain stagnant and thirsty for information because of life’s endless inquiry? There are so many questions needed to be answered. The bottom line is that science and technology is there to promote innovation and progression. Advancements in medicine, education, physics, transportation and many others became a possibility because of science and technology. Millions of lives have changed and the impossibilities in life before have now become a reality. It is important for us to understand science and technology because they are very much closely related to our lives. Science and technology go hand and hand with each other for society to improve and progress. When it comes to science and technology, we cannot help but  to mention the discoveries and inventions it has made. One of which is the invention of computers. Ever since the computer was invented, life has never been the same. Computers changed how we pay bills, how we communicate and how we work in the society. It has been one of the most significant inventions not only for the decade but also for all time. The computer has become very instrumental in today’s modern society because it allows a greater opportunity for new discoveries since its potential is almost limitless. Aside from computers, the discovery of the miracle of medicines has also drastically changed the face of health care around the world. Thanks to science and technology, more diseases are prevented and more lives are saved.

So, are science and technology important? The answer is definitely a big yes. All the comfort that we are experiencing right now is courtesy of science and technology. Science and technology have indeed provided life with a big bang. Life is good and beautiful because there are science and technology, which will lead the way to a brighter future, a brighter tomorrow.

Top 5 Noteworthy Robots

Robots are usually the stuff of science-fiction movies, where they are shown moving, talking and thinking very much like humans do.  They are usually depicted as having their own will, or having programming so advanced that they possess an inherent intelligence that rivals that of their human counterparts.

Most people think that robots do not exist in real life.  Well, maybe not like how they are featured in the movies, but there are actually some really cool and noteworthy robots in existence now.  Technically, a robot must be able to move around, have a mechanical limb, and manipulate its environment, display intelligent behavior or a combination of any of these.

The top five noteworthy robots in existence are:

BEAR

A robot introduced by the United States Army two years ago, BEAR, or Battlefield Extraction Assist Robot, can lift a person weighing 135 kilograms or lighter.  BEAR has been designed to carry injured soldiers where ever they might fall, and thus can navigate through any terrain with ease.

No more risking anybody’s life going back into danger zones, BEAR can easily go back and retrieve fallen comrades at ease!

Valerie

Believe it or not, Valerie is a female android that can clean your house, do your laundry, wash the dishes and even monitor stock prices for you.  Developed by scientists at the Carnegie Mellon University, Valerie started out as a receptionist at the university.  Carnegie Mellon’s Valerie can carry out simple tasks like give you directions, answer the phone, and dish out the latest news about her life.

Valerie is the nearest existing android that can mimic human behaviors and is based largely on another Carnegie Mellon project called GRACE, another socially adept robot that attended a conference on artificial intelligence and delivered a presentation on itself, even making small talk and answering questions on itself.

Roomba

The Roomba is proof that you do not have to have human characteristics to be considered a valuable robot.  Roomba looks more like a portable CD player more than a human, and is actually a vacuum cleaner.

But what a vacuum cleaner it is.  Created by iRobot, a Roomba can vacuum any room without any human intervention.  Once finished, it will go back to its base to recharge itself.  Roombas may also be programmed to start automatically.

The Roomba may not look like your typical robot, but it is one of the most popular robots right now.  More than 2.5 million homes are now cleaned by the Roomba.

ASIMO

Honda’s well-known robot has figured in some of the company’s advertisement all over the world.  ASIMO, an acronym meaning Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility, may be purchased for around $1 million.  Honda’s advanced astronaut looking robot can walk and run, and actually stands at 4′3″.  ASIMO can also recognize moving objects, imitate the movements of people around it, greet people as they approach, and shake hands, waves at people.  When it walks, ASIMO can stop when it encounters staircases, or avoid bumping into people.  It can also recognize sounds, especially the sound of its own name.  Lastly, ASIMO can remember who you are and call you by name by recognizing your face if you are one of the ten people registered in its databank.

Kismet

Kismet is one of the earliest and more sociable robots in existence today.  Developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Kismet can communicate naturally with humans and actively interact with them.  Kismet can also learn from these interactions.

Kismet can display various emotions including anger, surprise, happiness, disgust, sadness and calm. Aside from facial expressions, Kismet can also change its tone of voice and movement.  Speech patterns are analyzed by software that analyzes whether the speaker is sad, happy or excited and Kismet will respond accordingly.  Kismet can also gaze at you directly, and it can orient its eyes like humans do.

There are a lot of other robots in existence that can rival these five in their capabilities and wow factor.  Other robots that can dance move and interact with humans.  And as more and more organizations are devoting their time to robotics research and artificial intelligence, one can expect more advances in robots in the near future.  It might be just a matter of time before the robots we see in movies become a common everyday thing.

Interesting and Fun Facts about Science

• Over one million earthquakes wobble the Earth every twelve months.
• Approximately one hundred lightning bolts hit the Earth every second, killing a thousand people in a year.
• If it takes 8 minutes and 17 seconds for light to travel from the surface of the Sun to the Earth, it will just take you over an hour to reach space if you could drive your car straight up. While taking you about 193 years at 55 miles per hour if you could drive to the sun.
• The Sun, the Moon and the Earth all have the same age — 4.56 billion years old.
• It is one million times drier in the moon compared to the Gobi Desert.
• The planet Saturn would float if placed in water because of its density lower than water.
• The universe gets bigger by a billion times in all directions every hour.
• A falling raindrop can hit you as fast as a speed of 18mph.
• It takes a heavy object to sink 6.7miles down to the deepest part of the ocean, over an hour. Water, as it freezes, expands by approximately 10 percent.
• The only metal that is liquid at room temperature is Mercury.
• Glass will dissolve in hydrofluoric acid.
• The first virus was found in both plants and animals about a hundred of years ago.
• The hardest substance known to man is Diamond while the second is Boron Nitride.
• Every year, Hawaii is moving 4 inches toward Japan while the North Atlantic yearly gets 1 inch wider.
• By the year 2010, a quarter of the earth’s plants are in jeopardy with extinction.

ANIMALS

• Giraffes never lie down, never cough and only sleep for 20 minutes in 24 hours. Elephants sleep an average of two hours a day while koalas sleep two hours more than the sloth with an average of 22 hours a day. Ants never sleep.
• The giant salamander is the world’s largest amphibian because it can grow up to 5 ft. in length.
• The eye of an ostrich is bigger than its brain.
• The sense of smell of a dog is a thousand times more sensitive than humans.
• Cockroaches can live without its head for several weeks.
• Bats cannot walk because they have very thin leg bones.
• The animal that is immune to cancer is the shark.
• A camel’s spine is straight despite the hump.
• A giraffe’s neck has the same number as the human vertebrae.
• 13 seconds is the longest recorded flight of a chicken.
• The heart of a shrimp is in their head.
• The location of the ears of a cricket is on the front legs, just below the knee.

HUMANS

• The human body has 60,000 miles of blood vessels.
• Each individual casts off 40 pounds of skin in his or her lifetime and 70 percent of shed human skin comprises the dust in your home.
• There are more germs being transmitted through shaking of the hands compared to kissing.
• As a tribute to the inventor of telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, the entire US telephone system was shut down for 1 minute during the day he was buried.
• On record, the man who possessed the heaviest human brain was a Russian dramatist named Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev, who died in 1883.
• Research suggests that smoking professors are twice as likely to write a book than those non-smoking professors.
• Stapes or Stirrup, a bone in the middle ear, is the smallest bone found in the human body about .11 inches long
• The human eye, on an average, blinks about 17 thousand times a day and 4.2 million times a year.
• In order for food to be completely digested, it takes about 12 hours.
• It takes an average person to fall asleep in 7 minutes.
• You consume 1/10 of a calorie every time you lick a stamp.
• You can’t sneeze and open your eyes at the same time.
• With the absence of gravity, the cartilage disks in our spine expand. That is the reason why astronauts can grow up to 2 inches taller after returning from space.
• The size of our eyes the moment we were born is always the same while our ears and nose continues to grow.
• While reading this sentence, around a million billion neutrinos will pass through your body from the Sun.