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The most harmful achievements of civilization research work. The most harmful achievements of civilization. Take antioxidants regularly to neutralize free radicals in the body

25.05.2020

INDIVIDUAL PROJECT

By academic discipline Social science

on the topic: “The most harmful achievements civilization"

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D.V. Lomzhyna

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Main part………………………………………………………………

Theoretical part…………………………………………………………

Practical part………………………………………………………………

Conclusion

List of used literature………………………………………………………

Introduction

The relevance of research

Worldwide scientific progress is the most driving force development of the planet. However, few people have thought about the fact that some achievements of civilization can be not only useless, but also harmful.

Over the past few decades, the achievements of our civilization have stepped forward so much that we are simply accustomed to the fact that some new products and information about them appear and take it for granted. However, our achievements of civilization make our lives worse and have a detrimental effect on nature and the body as a whole...

This is exactly what we want to tell you about. And the results of our research were quite interesting.

The purpose of the study is to become familiar with the negative consequences that the most modern and much-needed inventions bring to humanity. Also, the research being conducted should make everyone think about how to build their relationship with these inventions.

Achieving this goal is ensured by solving the followingtasks:

Study the literature and statistical data on this study.

Provide basic information about the dangers of civilizational achievements.

Analyze the results of questionnaires and interviews.

Object of study stands out as the most harmful achievements of civilization

Subject of research is the negative consequences of modern inventions

Research methods :

theoretical – study of literature, Internet resources relevant to the topic;

practical – study of public opinion, analysis of statistical data.

Main part

Theoretical part

1.1 History of scientific and technological progress

The process of interdependent development of science and technology led to the emergence in the 20th century. a new social pattern - scientific and technological progress. Scientific and technical progress represents a unified, progressive, interdependent development of science and technology . It is the most important basis that largely determines the content and direction of social progress as a whole. Nowadays, the role of technology and technology in the development of material production is constantly increasing. The achievements of scientific and technical progress are aimed at meeting the diverse needs of people. Scientific and technological progress also ensures the functioning of political and cultural spheres life of modern society.

Historically, people have had mixed feelings about technology. Three main positions can be distinguished. The first one is neutral. There is a view that significantly exaggerates the role and importance of technology. It is expressed in the fact that science and technology are almost the only factor of social progress. Theories that absolutize the role of science and technology in the development of society are called technocratic (the term “technocracy” comes from the Greektechne - art, craft, craftsmanship andkratos - power, dominance). They constitute a whole direction not only in the philosophy of technology, but also in social philosophy, called technological determinism.

Idea "technocratic society" were first expressed in the 20s of the twentieth century in the works of the American sociologist T. Veblen. The meaning of this idea was that the leading and determining role in the functioning of the “welfare” society is played by technical specialists - “technocrats” who are able to manage it rationally. Further development of this view was reflected in the theories of A. Berle, R. Aron, W. Rostow, J. Galbraith and other philosophers.

D. Bell believes that becoming"post-industrial society" obliged to the development of planetary computerization and global telecommunications in all areas public life . The most important characteristic of such a society is the priority of knowledge in the field high technology and services. This allowed us to achieve a new level and quality of life.

The stage of development of society that follows its industrial stage is called by E. Toffler"super-industrial" society. Its technical basis is the general automation of production, leading to an increase in consumption and expansion of the service sector. .

There is also an opposite point of view in assessing technology and its role in the development of society. She expresses a pessimistic assessment of the role of technology in society. Supporters of this point of view point out that technology is increasingly becoming disproportionate to the person himself. People are gradually losing control over it. This leads to the emergence of global problems of our time. This view was shared by famous philosophers N. Berdyaev, M. Heidegger, K. Jaspers, F. Fukuyama, H. Ortega y Gasset, J. Ellul, as well as representatives of the Club of Rome. In general, their view boils down to the following: in the near future, technical inventions will lead humanity to a catastrophe that will destroy the entire civilization and man himself.

The Russian religious philosopher N. Berdyaev, predicting the inevitable “technical Apocalypse” for civilization, noted that technology, as a creation of the human spirit, will gradually become alienated from its creator and, in the end, will get out of control.

The problem of the consequences of scientific and technical progress was conceptualized on a larger scale by scientists from the Club of Rome. At the turn of the 21st century, humanity faced the need to solve problems of the world order: global environmental pollution from industrial waste; depletion of non-renewable natural resources; exponential growth of the planet's population; dangers of thermonuclear catastrophe, etc. These problems make us think about the goals and prospects of the technical development of modern civilization.

The concept of “sustainable development” has become a continuation of the search for new value orientations regarding the role and importance of technology for ensuring the prospects of humanity. It substantiates the idea that at present the most important priority of social progress should be a person who preserves nature and the quality of the environment. The main goal of this concept is to create basic conditions forcoherent and mutually supportive development of society (technosphere) and natural environment (biosphere). This will create conditions for more complete and comprehensive satisfaction of the needs of current and future generations.

Thus, scientific and technological progress is not only positive character. People's views

Humanity could not exist without constant progress, the discovery and implementation of new technologies, inventions and discoveries. Today, many of them are already outdated and are no longer needed, while others, like a wheel, still serve.

The whirlpool of time swallowed many discoveries, and some waited for their recognition and implementation only after tens and hundreds of years. Numerous questions have been asked to find out which inventions of mankind are the most significant.

One thing is clear - there is no consensus. Nevertheless, a universal ten of the greatest discoveries in human history was compiled.

Surprisingly, it turned out that the achievements of modern science have not shaken the significance of some basic discoveries for most people. Most inventions are so old that it is impossible to accurately name their author.

Fire. It's hard to challenge first place. People discovered the beneficial properties of fire quite a long time ago. With its help it was possible to warm up and illuminate, change the taste properties of food. Initially, man dealt with “wild” fire arising from fires or volcanic eruptions. Fear gave way to curiosity, and the flame migrated into the cave. Over time, man learned to make fire himself; it became his constant companion, the basis of the economy, and protection from animals. As a result, many subsequent discoveries became possible only thanks to fire - ceramics, metallurgy, steam engines, etc. The path to making fire on their own was long - for years people kept home fires in their caves until they learned how to make it using friction. Two sticks of dry wood were taken, one of which had a hole. The first one was placed on the ground and pressed. The second one was inserted into the hole and began to be quickly rotated between the palms. The wood heated up and ignited. Of course, such a process required a certain skill. With the development of mankind, other ways of producing open fire arose.

Wheel. The Cart is closely related to this discovery. Scientists believe that the prototype of the wheel was the rollers that were placed under stones and tree trunks during transportation. Probably, then someone observant noticed the properties of rotating bodies. So, if the log roller in the center was thinner than at the edges, then it moved more evenly, without deviating to the sides. People noticed this, and a device appeared, now called a stingray. Over time, the design changed; all that remained of the solid log were two rollers at the ends connected by an axis. Later, they generally began to be made separately, fastening them together only later. And so the wheel was discovered, which immediately began to be used in the first carts. Over the next centuries and millennia, people worked hard to improve this important invention. At first, solid wheels were rigidly connected to the axle, rotating with it. But at the turn the heavy cart could break. And the wheels themselves were imperfect; they were originally made from a single piece of wood. This led to the fact that the first carts were rather slow and clumsy, and they were harnessed to strong but leisurely oxen. A major step in evolution was the invention of the wheel with a hub mounted on a fixed axle. To reduce the weight of the wheel itself, they came up with the idea of cutting cuts in it, strengthening it with transverse braces for rigidity. In the Stone Age, it was impossible to create a better option. But with the advent of metals in human life, wheels received metal rims and spokes, they were able to rotate tens of times faster and were no longer afraid of stones and wear. Fleet-footed horses began to be harnessed to the cart, and the speed increased noticeably. As a result, the wheel became a discovery that gave perhaps the most powerful impetus to the development of all technology.

Writing. Few would deny the significance of this invention for the entire development of mankind. Where would the development of our civilization go if at a certain stage we would not have learned to capture the necessary information with certain symbols. This made it possible to save it and transmit it. It is obvious that without writing our society in its current form simply would not exist. The first forms of symbols for transmitting information arose about 6 thousand years ago. Before this, people used more primitive signals - smoke, branches... Later, more complex ways data transmission, for example, the Incas used knots for this. Laces of different colors were tied into various knots and attached to a stick. The addressee deciphered the message. This kind of writing was also practiced in China and Mongolia. However, writing itself appeared only with the invention of graphic symbols. Pictographic letters were first adopted. On them, in the form of a drawing, people schematically depicted phenomena, events, objects. Pictography was widespread back in the Stone Age, and it did not require much learning. But this type of writing was not suitable for conveying complex thoughts or abstract concepts. Over time, symbols began to be introduced into pictograms to denote certain concepts. Thus, crossed hands symbolized exchange. Gradually, primitive pictograms became clearer and more defined, and writing became ideographic. Its highest form was hieroglyphic writing. It first originated in Ancient Egypt, then spread to Far East- Japan, China. Such symbols already made it possible to reflect any thoughts, even the most complex ones. But for an outsider it was very difficult to understand the secret, and for someone who wanted to learn to read and write, it was necessary to learn several thousand characters. As a result, only a few could master this skill. And only 4 thousand years ago the ancient Phoenicians came up with an alphabet of letters and sounds, which became a model for many other peoples. The Phoenicians began to use 22 consonant letters, each of which denoted a different sound. New writing made it possible to transmit any word graphically, and learning to write has become much easier. Now it has become the property of the entire society, this fact contributed to the rapid spread of the alphabet throughout the world. It is believed that 80% of the alphabets common today have Phoenician roots. The last significant changes to the Phoenician letters were made by the Greeks - they began to denote not only consonants, but also vowel sounds with letters. The Greek alphabet, in turn, formed the basis of most European ones.

Paper. This invention is closely related to the previous one. The inventors of paper were the Chinese. It's hard to call this an accident. Since ancient times was famous not only for his love of books, but also for his complex system of bureaucratic management with constant reports. That is why there was a special need for inexpensive and compact writing material. Before the advent of paper, people wrote here on silk and bamboo tablets. However, these materials were poorly suited - silk was expensive, and bamboo was heavy and bulky. They say that some works required a whole cart to transport them. The invention of paper came from the processing of silk cocoons. The women boiled them, and then, spreading them out on a mat, ground them until smooth. The water was filtered from it to obtain silk wool. After this treatment, a thin fibrous layer remained on the mats, which, after drying, turned into paper suitable for writing. Later, they began to use rejected cocoons for its targeted preparation. This paper was called cotton paper and was quite expensive. Over time, the question arose - is it possible to make paper not only from silk? Or any fibrous raw material, preferably of plant origin, is suitable for these purposes. The story goes that in 105, a certain official, Cai Lun, was able to create a new type of paper from old fishing nets. Its quality was comparable to silk, and the price was much lower. This discovery became important both for the country and for the entire civilization. People received high-quality and accessible writing material, an equivalent replacement for which has never been found. The following centuries brought several important improvements to papermaking technology, and the process itself began to develop rapidly. In the 4th century, paper finally replaced bamboo planks; it soon became known that production was possible from cheap plant materials - tree bark, bamboo and reed. This was especially important, because bamboo grows in huge quantities in China. Production secrets were kept in the strictest confidence for several centuries. But in 751, some Chinese, during a clash with the Arabs, were captured by them. So the secret became known to the Arabs, who for five centuries profitably sold paper to Europe. In 1154, paper production was established in Italy, and soon the skill was mastered in Germany and England. In subsequent centuries, paper became widespread, conquering ever new areas of application. Its significance is so great that our era is even sometimes called the “paper era.”

Gunpowder and firearms. This European discovery played a huge role in the history of mankind. Many people knew how to make an explosive mixture; Europeans were the last of the civilized peoples who learned how to do it. But it was they who were able to derive practical benefit from this discovery. The first consequences of the invention of gunpowder were the development of firearms and a revolution in military affairs. Social changes followed - invincible knights in armor retreated before the fire of cannons and rifles. Feudal society received a strong blow from which it could no longer recover. As a result, powerful centralized states. Gunpowder itself was invented in China many centuries before its appearance in Europe. Important integral part The powder was saltpeter, which in some areas of the country was generally found in its native form, resembling snow. Setting fire to a mixture of saltpeter and coal, the Chinese began to observe small outbreaks. At the turn of the 5th and 6th centuries, the properties of saltpeter were first described by the Chinese physician Tao Hung-ching. Since then, this substance has also been used as a component of some medications. The appearance of the first sample of gunpowder is attributed to the alchemist Sun Sy-miao, who prepared a mixture of sulfur and saltpeter, adding pieces of locust wood to them. When heated, a strong flash of flame occurred, which was recorded by the scientist in his treatise “Dan Jing”. The composition of gunpowder was further improved by his colleagues, who experimentally established three main components - potassium nitrate, sulfur and coal. The medieval Chinese could not scientifically explain the effects of the explosion, but soon adapted to use gunpowder for military purposes. However, this did not have a revolutionary effect. The fact is that the mixture was prepared from unrefined components, which only gave an incendiary effect. Only in XII-XIII centuries The Chinese created weapons that resembled firearms, and the rocket and firecracker were also invented. Soon the Mongols and Arabs learned the secret, and from them the Europeans. The secondary discovery of gunpowder is attributed to the monk Berthold Schwartz, who began to grind a crushed mixture of saltpeter, coal and sulfur in a mortar. The explosion singed the tester's beard, but the idea came into his head that such energy could be used to throw stones. At first, the gunpowder was floury, and it was inconvenient to use, since the powder stuck to the walls of the barrels. After this, they noticed that it was much more convenient to use gunpowder in lumps and grains. This also produced more gases when ignited.

Communication means - telephone, telegraph, radio, Internet and others. Even 150 years ago the only way only steamship mail remained the exchange of information between Europe and England, America and the colonies. People learned about what was happening in other countries with a delay of weeks and even months. So, news from Europe to America took at least 2 weeks. That is why the advent of the telegraph radically solved this problem. As a result, a technical innovation appeared in all corners of the planet, allowing news from one hemisphere to reach the other in a matter of hours and minutes. During the day, interested parties received business and political news and stock market reports. The telegraph made it possible to transmit written messages over distances. But soon the inventors thought about a new means of communication that could transmit the sounds of a human voice or music over any distance. First experiments on this issue were carried out in 1837 by the American physicist Page. His simple but clear experiments proved that it was in principle possible to transmit sound using electricity. A series of subsequent experiments, discoveries and implementations led to the appearance in our lives today of the telephone, television, the Internet and other modern means of communication, which have turned the life of society upside down.

Automobile. Like some of the greatest inventions before it, the automobile not only influenced its era, but also spawned a new one. This discovery is not limited to the transport sector alone. The automobile shaped modern industry, spawned new industries, and reshaped manufacturing itself. It has become massive and continuous. Even the planet has changed - now it is surrounded by millions of kilometers of roads, and the ecology has deteriorated. And even human psychology has become different. Today, the influence of the car is so multifaceted that it is present in all spheres of human life. There were many glorious pages in the history of the invention, but the most interesting one dates back to the first years of its existence. In general, the speed with which the car has reached its maturity cannot fail to impress. In just a quarter of a century, an unreliable toy has turned into a massive and popular vehicle. There are now about a billion cars in the world. The main features of a modern car were formed 100 years ago. The predecessor of the gasoline car was the steam car. Back in 1769, the Frenchman Cunu created a steam cart that could transport up to 3 tons of cargo, moving, however, at a speed of up to 4 km/h. The machine was clumsy, and working with the boiler was difficult and dangerous. But the idea of moving by steam captivated followers. In 1803, Trivaitik built the first steam car in England, which could carry up to 10 passengers and accelerate to 15 km/h. London onlookers were delighted! The automobile in the modern sense appeared only with the discovery of the internal combustion engine. In 1864, a vehicle by the Austrian Marcus was born, which was driven by a gasoline engine. But the glory of the official inventors of the car went to two Germans - Daimler and Benz. The latter was the owner of a factory producing two-stroke gas engines. There were enough funds for leisure and the development of their own cars. In 1891, the owner of a rubber products factory, Edouard Michelin, invented a removable pneumatic tire for a bicycle, and 4 years later tires began to be produced for cars. In the same 1895, the tires were tested during racing, although they were constantly punctured, but it became clear that they give cars a smooth ride, making the ride more comfortable.

Electric lamp. And this invention appeared in our lives recently, at the end of the 19th century. First, lighting appeared on city streets, and then it entered residential buildings. Today it is difficult to imagine the life of a civilized person without electric light. This discovery had enormous consequences. Electricity revolutionized the energy sector, forcing industry to change significantly. In the 19th century, two types of light bulbs became widespread - arc and incandescent lamps. The first to appear were arc lamps, the glow of which was based on a phenomenon called a voltaic arc. If you connect two wires connected to a strong current and then move them apart, a glow will appear between their ends. This phenomenon was first observed by the Russian scientist Vasily Petrov in 1803, and the Englishman Devi described such an effect only in 1810. The use of a voltaic arc as a source of illumination was described by both scientists. However, arc lamps had an inconvenience - as the electrodes burned out, they had to be constantly moved towards each other. Exceeding the distance between them entailed a flickering of light. In 1844, the Frenchman Foucault developed the first arc lamp in which the length of the arc could be adjusted manually. Just 4 years later, this invention was used to illuminate one of the squares in Paris. In 1876, the Russian engineer Yablochkov improved the design - the electrodes, replaced by coals, were already located parallel to each other, and the distance between the ends always remained the same. In 1879, the American inventor Edison set about improving the design. He came to the conclusion that for a light bulb to glow for a long time and brightly, a suitable material for the filament was needed, as well as creating a rarefied space around it. Edison carried out a lot of experiments on a grand scale; it is estimated that at least 6 thousand different compounds were tested. The research cost the American 100 thousand dollars. Edison gradually began to use metals for thread, eventually settling on charred bamboo fibers. As a result, in the presence of 3 thousand spectators, the inventor publicly demonstrated the electric light bulbs he had developed, illuminating not only his house, but also several neighboring streets. Edison's light bulb was the first to have a long life and be suitable for mass production.

Antibiotics. This place is devoted to wonderful medicines, in particular penicillin. Antibiotics became one of the main discoveries of the last century, revolutionizing medicine. Today, not everyone realizes how much they owe to such medicinal drugs. Many will be surprised to learn that even 80 years ago, tens of thousands of people died from dysentery, pneumonia was a deadly disease, sepsis threatened the death of almost all surgical patients, typhus was dangerous and difficult to cure, and pneumonic plague sounded like a death sentence. But all these terrible diseases, like others that were previously incurable (tuberculosis), were defeated . The drugs had a significant impact on military medicine. Previously, most of the soldiers died not from bullets at all, but from festering wounds. After all, millions of cocci bacteria penetrated there, causing pus, sepsis, and gangrene. The most that the surgeon could do was amputate the affected part of the body. It turned out that it is possible to fight dangerous microorganisms with the help of their own brothers. Some of them, in the process of their life activity, release substances that can destroy other microbes. This idea appeared back in the 19th century. Louis Pasteur discovered that bacilli anthrax die under the influence of some other microbes. Over time, experiments and discoveries gave the world penicillin. For seasoned field surgeons, this medicine became a true miracle. The most hopeless patients got back on their feet, having overcome blood poisoning or pneumonia. The discovery and creation of penicillin is considered one of the most significant discoveries in the history of all medicine, giving a huge impetus to its development.

Sail and ship. The sail arose in human life a long time ago, when there was a desire to go to sea and build boats for this. The first sail was an ordinary animal skin. The sailor had to hold it with his hands and constantly orient it relative to the wind. It is unknown when people came up with the idea of using masts and yards, but already on the most ancient images of ships from the time of the Egyptian queen Hatshepsut, various devices for working with sails and rigging are visible. Thus, it is clear that the sail originated in prehistoric times. It is believed that the first large sailing ships appeared in Egypt, and the Nile became the first navigable river. Every year the mighty river overflowed, cutting off cities and regions from each other. So the Egyptians had to master shipping. At that time, ships played a much larger role in the economic life of the country than carts on wheels. One of the first types of ships is the barque, which is more than 7 thousand years old. Its models have come to us from temples. Since there was little wood in Egypt for the construction of the first ships, papyrus was used for these purposes. Its features determined the design and shape of the ships. They were a crescent-shaped boat, knitted from bundles of papyrus, with the bow and stern curved upward. The hull of the vessel, for strength, was tied together with cables. Over time, trade with the Phoenicians gave the country Lebanese cedar, and the tree became firmly established in shipbuilding. Compositions from 5 thousand years ago give reason to believe. That then the Egyptians used a straight sail mounted on a two-legged mast. It was possible to sail only downwind, and if there was a crosswind, the mast was quickly removed. About 4,600 years ago, the single-legged mast began to be used, which is still used today. It became easier for the ship to walk, it gained the ability to maneuver. However, at that time, the rectangular sail was very unreliable, and moreover, it could only be used with a tailwind. So it turned out that the main engine of the ship at that time was the muscular power of the rowers. Then the maximum speed of the ships of the pharaohs was 12 km/h. Merchant ships traveled mainly along the coast, without going far out to sea. The next step in the development of ships was made by the Phoenicians, who initially had excellent building materials. 5 thousand years ago, with the beginning of the development of maritime trade, the Phoenicians began to build ships. Moreover, their sea vessels initially had design features from boats. Stiffening ribs were installed on the single-trees, covered with boards on top. The Phoenicians may have been inspired to think about such a design by animal skeletons. In fact, this is how the first frames appeared, which are still used today. It was the Phoenicians who created the first keel ship. At first, two trunks connected at an angle acted as the keel. This gave the ships more stability, becoming the basis for the future development of shipbuilding and determining the appearance of all future ships.

Thus, any discovery or invention is another step into the future, which improves our lives, and often extends it. And if not every, then very, very many discoveries are worthy of being called great and extremely necessary in our lives.

Human imagination, as we know, is inexhaustible. Everything that we see around us - from a stool to an airplane - was once invented by man, tested, brought to mind, and became part of our life. The law here is simple: if a thing is useful, it quickly takes root in everyday life. Well, if not, then the invention goes on the shelf, and the author is shown the door. However, restless inventors do not sit idle, inventing more and more new masterpieces.

Protection against aircraft hijacking

Inventor Gustavo Pizzofrom the USA patented a complex mechanism for protecting an aircraft from hijacking. The hijacker fell into a trap, was packed into a capsule and parachuted to the ground. The police can only drive up and arrest the criminal. This invention was awarded in 2013.

Speech disruptor

Japanese scientists Kazutaka Kurihara and KojiTsukada was invented effective method silence a person. They invented a device that disrupts people's ability to speak. As it turned out, a person’s speech can be disrupted if he hears himself with a delay of a few tenths of a second. The effect disappears as soon as the person stops talking. Only the speaker suffers from its echo; the device has no effect on others. The authors made two prototypes in the form of a directional microphone and a directional speaker to disrupt the speech of selected people. The application of this effect to moderating group discussions has also been discussed. If you think about it, the device would be very useful for talk show hosts.

Headrest

The device is an iron pole the length of a man, one end of which rests on the floor, and at the other end there is a special semicircular holder for the head.

Meter mouthpiece

A cigarette holder several meters long was invented so that a person could smoke while indoors, and stick the cigarette itself out the window or into the ventilation. This series also includes a mouthpiece through which you can smoke an entire pack at once or smoke one cigarette between two.

Useful inventions in 2015-2016

UV glue

A several times more effective way of gluing various things has been found, which is called Bontik. Regular superglue often dries before both parts are properly connected. This adhesive, which is called liquid plastic, only sets when it is exposed to ultraviolet rays.

First, the glue is applied using a reusable cartridge to the damaged area, then illuminated with ultraviolet light and it instantly sets the parts. All this happens in 4 seconds. Such a thing will come in handy in the household in any case, especially since it is not that expensive - $25 for a whole set with lighting.

Flash drive with buttons to protect information.

You should not upload any sensitive data via email or cloud service. Any of these storage facilities can be hacked by someone who needs your confidential information. The safest way to store such information is a flash drive with secure encryption. It's like a safe, but for electronic data only. A special PIN code is entered into it, after which your information will be under perfect cover of protection.

If suddenly this flash drive-safe is stolen, after 10 incorrect attempts to enter the code, it will be completely blocked. The attacker will be able to resume it by setting a new password, but the fact is that after connecting our flash drive to the USB port, he will be asked to format the data to continue working with it. $65.

Product scanner

A food scanner called SCiO will allow you to analyze food products, medicines, plants, and many other objects. He will show them to you chemical composition in an accessible form. Let’s say a user goes to the market with this device to buy a watermelon. Points the device at the watermelon, presses the button and the device immediately warns.

Using light similar to infrared, you can determine what the object you are buying is made of or you can find out how your house plants are doing. Are you keeping them well watered or do they need extra care? Prices for this storage device start at $249.

Practical part

As part of the study, 50 first-year students of the Altai Academy of Hospitality were interviewed. Respondents were asked to answer the question, “What achievements of civilization do you consider the most harmful?”

What achievements of civilization do you consider the most harmful?

Row 1 - mobile communications

Row 2 - television

Row 3 - cloning

Row 4-plastic surgery

Row 5 – issue loans

Row 6 – GMO

Row 7 - personal computer

Row 8 - Internet

Row 9 – cars

Row – 10 – nuclear/ nuclear power

Row 11 – other

Thus, a large number of respondents highlighted such harmful achievements as cloning, GMOs, nuclear and atomic energy. Choosing “other” as an answer option, respondents also noted that “when used wisely and within reasonable limits, any inventions are useful”, that “without the above achievements there is no development, and modern life is impossible”, “everything contributes to the progress of civilization”, “even You could move a digging stick on the head, or you could dig out the root. There are no harmful inventions, there are only unwise people.”

Conclusion

All achievements of civilization are created with various moral goals. If they are dictated by the good of all people and do not pursue selfish goals, such as vanity, profit, then they bring good to humanity, because they take into account all harmful side effects. In this case, if calculations show that such an “achievement” will cause more harm than good, it will certainly be abandoned.

It’s another matter if “achievements” are the essence new way play on laziness, ignorance and human vices to make a profit, and the more there is, the better it is for the inventors, then one has to forget about environmental friendliness. This, of course, harms humanity and the entire ecosystem of the planet.

The results obtained in the course of our small study make it possible to once again verify that the discoveries and inventions actually made in various fields human life, make it more comfortable, convenient and interesting, but it is the analysis of the results obtained that opens and reverse side of these inventions with a minus sign. What should I do? Refuse? Resign yourself? Most likely, you just need to understand that when used wisely and within reasonable limits, any inventions are useful, that without the above achievements there is no development, all discoveries contribute to the progress of civilization, this has always been the case since ancient times: even a digging stick could be moved along head, but you could dig up the root.

The achievements of civilization in themselves can be neither harmful nor beneficial. During this study, we came to the conclusion that all of the above are useful when used correctly.

List of used literature

Bell D. The Coming Post-Industrial Society. Experience of social forecasting/Bell D.-M.:Academia,1999.-773 c.

Internet resources

Scientific and technical progress. Assessment of the role and place of technology in the development of society. - [Electronic resource]. – Electronic data. - Access mode: . ru , free, 12/20/2016.

If you look closely at our time, you can see that a wonderful future has already arrived a long time ago - a smartphone that fits in your pocket replaces an entire computer, the Internet allows you to get any information in just a couple of seconds, and an automatic hand dryer in a public toilet is turned on with one movement of the hand.

But if you take an even closer look at our time, it becomes clear that many of the modern conveniences do not make life better, but only harm, even if this is not noticeable during their daily use. Here are five examples that apply to everyone.

The “Nap for 5 more minutes” button disrupts your sleep pattern

An achievement of civilization in recent years - the “Sleep for another 5 minutes” button, which postpones the alarm - teaches a person an extremely harmful thing called procrastination. This word means putting off until later an extremely unpleasant task that you really don’t want to do. In this case, getting up in the morning.

But psychology is not so bad. The button affects your body at a physiological level. Every cell in your body contains a protein called PERIOD (PER), which rises and falls in concentration every 24 hours. This protein is responsible for your circadian rhythm, so if you always go to bed and get up at the same time, your body gradually learns to increase the concentration of this protein strictly at certain hours so that you wake up. For example, this happens to those who regularly get up seconds before the alarm clock rings - their body is perfectly synchronized with the rhythm of life.

But if you don't stick to a schedule (and let's face it, most of us don't), your body will never learn when it needs to wake up. In this case, you have to rely on the alarm to wake you up. This way of getting up is extremely unpleasant and even irritating, which is why the desire to press the treasured button and sleep for another five minutes is always so great.

Your brain knows how difficult it is to get out of bed, so it increases the amount of dopamine in your blood and decreases the concentration of serotonin, which allows your body to wake up faster. But if you give yourself a chance to sleep another five minutes, and then another five, and another, until you finally get up, then this does not affect your condition at all. in the best possible way. Because of this “dopamine-serotonin roller coaster,” your brain turns out to be slow and “bruised” in the morning, like after a stormy night.

Automatic hand dryers spread bacteria throughout your body

Many of us are so used to automatic hand dryers in public restrooms that even the presence of paper towels instead of these machines can be a little confusing. However, if you're not the type who wipes your wet hands on your pants anyway, we have bad news for you - from a hygiene perspective, there's nothing worse than an air dryer.

Research shows that after drying your hands with a jet of hot air, the number of bacteria on the skin increases by an average of 255%. True, it is not so much the dryers themselves that are to blame for this, but the environment where they are located. The toilet, with its damp, warm and not the most hygienic conditions, is an excellent environment for the growth of bacteria. And the dryer just nobly scatters them over your skin with a stream of air, acting as a “microbial bazooka.” Therefore, if possible, it is better to use paper towels - with them, bacteria from your hands will fly into the trash can, where they belong.

A Popular Painkiller Dulls Your Emotions

When you have a fever or an unbearable headache, toothache or something else, one remedy immediately comes to mind - paracetamol. In addition to the fact that this medicine is popular in pure form, it is also found in a ton of antipyretic and pain relievers sold under various brands. Paracetamol is without a doubt one of the most popular drugs on Earth, so its effects have been very well studied. And it's far from safe.

For example, taking it can have negative effects on the liver and kidneys, so it should not be mixed with alcohol. But paracetamol also has side effects that cannot be avoided.

Only relatively recently have scientists discovered that paracetamol significantly dulls human emotions. First, scientists discovered the strange effect of paracetamol, which was expressed in the suppression of not only physical pain, but also emotional pain - the substance literally reduced negative emotions from the individual's experience of social rejection. But don't rush to the pharmacy the next time your new avatar is ignored by all your friends on the social network.

In a classic experiment, scientists found that the action of paracetamol dulls emotions across the entire spectrum - both good and bad. To do this, they forced the experiment participants to view pictures of different emotional content in a normal state and under the influence of paracetamol. Measuring the reaction of the subjects showed a clear decrease in their emotional response to both joyful and sad or annoying pictures.

Moreover, it later turned out that paracetamol also dulls such a fundamental feeling as the fear of death. So if you suddenly have an unbearable desire to go fight in some hot spot for the interests of the ruling class, you shouldn’t blame the TV for everything; perhaps the government is simply pouring paracetamol into your tap water and nothing else.

Synthetic clothes make you stink

So, you finally decided to fulfill your New Year's promise and signed up for the gym. But you can’t go there in a stretched T-shirt and old shorts, after all? So you run to the sports store to buy the latest from one of the trendy sportswear brands that not only ventilates your body, but also reduces sweating, increasing your performance (or whatever they usually say in commercials). True, what any manufacturer always keeps silent about is that in such clothes you begin to stink like a dead fish.

Scientific research has proven this. The researchers took several samples of clothing from different fabrics, soaked them in the sweat of people working out in the gym, placed them in bags for 24 hours, and then, with the help of a specially trained assistant (yes, there are such professions), forced them to determine the level of stinkiness of each of them. Synthetics won by a huge margin - not a single fabric stank so much.

More in-depth research has shown that synthetic fibers (such as polyester) are most favorable for the growth of bacteria responsible for stink. For example, the Micrococcus bacterium thrives in such tissue, breaking down the fatty acids in our sweat into molecules that create an unpleasant odor.

Of course, clothing manufacturers didn’t just leave it like that - many of them today add various antimicrobial components to the fabric, such as silver nanoparticles. But this creates another problem that environmentalists are already unhappy with - such antimicrobial agents have an extremely adverse effect on the environment when these things are thrown into a landfill.

Your cell phone distracts you...even when you're not using it

The fact that people are becoming more distracted because of their phones will not surprise anyone. But something else will surprise you - it turns out that you don’t even have to use a phone to lose your cognitive abilities.

This result was shown by an experiment in which students taking a math test were accidentally distracted by a professor with various things left on the table - a book, glasses, a telephone, and so on. It turned out that the mere presence of a phone in front of students had a negative impact on test results, unlike all other things. Your brain refuses to think when it remembers that there are actually more interesting things to do - scroll through your news feed or look at updates on a social network.

This result was not a coincidence - other studies have confirmed that simply having a phone in sight or having another person talk on the phone negatively affects an individual's cognitive abilities. Moreover, various technologies that allow, for example, less distraction while driving a car, do not solve the problem at all.

Statistically, more accidents occur while talking on a cell phone using a headset than while texting. Moreover, even voice control of the phone does not help - studies show that this function, which many of us still associate with science fiction films of the past, has an even greater impact on a person’s lack of attention.

Of course, science is one of the most important forms of culture in society, and its development is the most important factor in the renewal of all spheres of human life. Modern science shapes a person’s worldview, is closely related to technological progress, helps create forecasts for the development of society and develop programs, solve problems facing humanity. But is science always safe for humanity? I believe that this issue will forever remain unresolved.

Today we can say that science plays a role in modern society important role in many industries and spheres of people's lives. The level of development of science is one of the main indicators of the development of society, and it is also an indicator of the modern development of the state. Everything around a person is an achievement of science. Therefore, the goal of the project is to study the influence of science in many industries and spheres of life in modern society.

Today, teachers are trying to convey the basics of science to children through the global network - the Internet. Preference is beginning to be given to “invisible colleges” distance learning, virtual institutions. Live direct communication between teacher and student is lost. The role of the teacher is diminishing, there is no education of children by living example, and in this I see only negative consequences for future generations. The 20th century was remarkable in terms of technological development. Without any exaggeration, we can say that in 100 years no less discoveries have been made than in the entire previous history of mankind. The contribution that science made in the twentieth century to the development of mankind is enormous. But if you add up the funds that humanity has spent on fundamental scientific research throughout its history, the amount will be incomparable to any budget of any developed country. States are losing a huge amount of funds that could be used to fight hunger and disease, and other problems facing heads of state.

Modern science has amazing capabilities. Back in 1904, Nikola Tesla claimed that one day a person would be able to send his thoughts to the farthest distances. A century later this became possible. The informatization of society has reached such a high level that now a person can find almost any information on the Internet. Every home and office now has both a computer and the Internet. They have become so commonplace that people forget about the dangers associated with their use. A computer is a source of several types of radiation and fields. The cathode ray tube of desktop computer and laptop monitors produces ionizing radiation. Like any other electrical device, a computer produces electromagnetic radiation. All devices and auxiliary electrical equipment included in the computer form a complex electromagnetic field. Most current research on the effects electromagnetic radiation they talk about its harm to health.

The latest scientific developments, in addition to undoubted benefits, also carry potential dangers. Producing huge amounts of energy, thermal power plants emit millions of tons of ash and gases into the atmosphere, polluting environment and destructive ozone layer planets. Accidents at nuclear power plants and enterprises using radioactive materials lead to catastrophic consequences. One such example is the disaster at Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Genetically modified products, which are increasingly being sold on store shelves, can, in principle, prove dangerous to humans. Harmoniously fit technology and scientific achievements into natural processes is one of the urgent tasks of scientists of the coming century. Only by solving this difficult problem can we ensure not just survival, but a decent life for future generations. Science is usually viewed as a highly specialized activity for the production of objective knowledge about the world, including man himself. But is it ethical to conduct scientific research, even extremely interesting research, the fruits of which may become dangerous to people?

What achievements of civilization do you consider the most harmful? Class students. The answers were distributed as follows: mobile communications - 6% television - 6% cloning - 22% plastic surgery -13% genetically modified products - 72% personal computer - 2% Internet - 1% cars - 7% nuclear energy -19% other – 6% difficult to answer – 7%

Conclusion: Based on the survey results, we can conclude that food products containing genetically modified ingredients are considered to be the most harmful. achievements of civilization 65% of respondents. “The effect of them has not been fully studied; it is unknown how this will affect future generations”; “This is a human invasion into an area that affects future generations in an unknown way.” Approximately 36% of respondents are convinced that the most dangerous achievement is cloning: “There is no need to imitate nature and try to replace it, because it is genius in itself. Maybe scientists are trying to create clones to save human lives, but this is unlikely to be beneficial, because the clone will also be alive and its destruction for the sake of another life will be violence against life. The same as genetically modified products. What is not natural is harmful; A third of respondents (33%) believe that nuclear energy is the most dangerous for humanity: “humanity is following the wrong path, thinking that nuclear energy can be a safe way to obtain energy”; “But not everyone knows the consequences of playing with atoms. Chernobyl, I think, explained this not only to us, but to the whole world.” Television is an undoubted evil and claims to be the most harmful achievement of civilization, according to 11% of respondents: “They believe that it can have a strong influence on public consciousness, and The lowest percentages in our “harmfulness rating” were cars (4%), the Internet (3%) and personal computers (2%).

People today are surrounded by many new inventions, but few people think about where they came from and how they affected our lives.

The basis of all world discoveries are both useful and funny, unnecessary, and, unfortunately, very dangerous inventions.
This article is about what innovations of the modern world can sooner or later destroy humanity.

Nuclear weapon

Today, this type of weapon is concentrated in several countries of the world: Great Britain, Russia, China, France, the USA, etc. At one time, Ukraine was the third country in the world in terms of nuclear arsenal capacity, but in 1994 we abandoned it.
Nuclear weapons pose a particular danger to human life all over the planet. If a nuclear war breaks out, everything will be destroyed. So, if the dams of hydraulic structures collapse, a flood will occur; if nuclear power plants collapse, there will be a significant increase in radiation levels, contamination of agricultural crops, which will subsequently lead to famine. If a nuclear strike is carried out in winter, people who can survive will simply die from the cold, since they will have nowhere to live.
Detrimental outcome of long-term use nuclear weapons There will be destruction of the ozone layer, which will ultimately have a detrimental effect on all living things.
Thus, a nuclear war will not be able to resolve interstate problems; it will simply cause a climate catastrophe (cold weather, massive fires), an increase in cancer in surviving people and, in the future, the death of all living things.

Nuclear power

A very pressing issue of the present time is the unsafety of nuclear power plants. Many countries around the world are discussing the topic of abandoning this type of energy, because accidents at nuclear power plants always threaten global environmental disasters. Just take the example of 1986 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which led to severe large-scale radioactive contamination of the territory of Ukraine and Europe, as well as to the illness of thousands of people.
Today the situation with nuclear power plants in Ukraine is deplorable. Nuclear reactors are already old and are not able to operate in normal mode, but power engineers do not want to take this into account and continue to operate as usual. Such actions only increase the likelihood of further accidents.
The only benefit of nuclear energy is that such electricity is cheap. But you cannot escape reality: the longer countries do not abandon the use of nuclear power plants, the more nuclear waste will be produced, which will be dangerous for at least another million years. Nuclear energy also contributes to the greenhouse effect and increased terrorism (after all, nuclear weapons are made with the help of nuclear reactors).

Chemical fertilizers

The basis for chemical fertilizers was laid in the mid-1930s, but only recently (20th century) did their mass production and use begin.
Today, the most popular and widespread are phosphorus and nitrogen fertilizers.
Scientists around the world have differing opinions about the dangers of this type of fertilizer. On the one hand, the planet's population is growing, demanding everything every day large quantity plant and animal food, and the world's cultivated areas occupy only 15% of the Earth's surface, and it is simply impossible to increase them quickly without chemical fertilizers. On the other hand, if you use them constantly, the biological cycle of plants is disrupted, which necessarily leads to soil erosion, as well as the destruction of microorganisms and insects in it. Then the gradual death of fish and other animals begins, as fertilizers enter water bodies through groundwater.
One way or another, this controversial issue must be resolved, and immediately. Making large crops in order to obtain more material resources will not lead us to good. Chemical fertilizers are a kind of slow weapon for the destruction of the flora and fauna of the planet, as well as the emergence of dangerous diseases.

Internal combustion engine

Environmentalists have long considered internal combustion engines, which are powered by diesel or gasoline fuel, to be one of the worst inventions of mankind.
They emit heavy metals into the atmosphere, which burns atmospheric oxygen, poison people with carbon monoxide, and contribute to the creation of the greenhouse effect (climate warming, drought).
According to the World Health Organization, such emissions reduce human life expectancy by an average of 4 years.
Improper disposal of used oils and engine batteries is slowly poisoning us and our environment.

Freon

Freon was synthesized in 1928 by an American chemist. Since this gas has high thermodynamic properties, it soon became widely used in the production of air conditioners, refrigerators, as well as aerosols and perfumes. Only in the 80s, scientists proved that, when decomposing in the atmosphere with the release of chlorine, freon destroys the ozone layer, and if the gas is heated above 250°C, very toxic products are formed that can be a strong poison.

Polyethylene

This material has found widespread use in the production of packaging films, bags, pipes and toys. The danger is that during its combustion it releases harmful substances, and in the ground it does not decompose at all. According to environmental scientists, the number of ocean inhabitants is decreasing by more than 100 thousand units per year due to polyethylene waste.
Also, various unhealthy microorganisms, including yeast and E. coli bacteria, accumulate and multiply intensively on polyethylene. Thus, if you store products for a long time in bags or under a film made of this material, they not only acquire an unpleasant smell and taste, but also lead to inflammatory processes in the gastrointestinal tract and severe poisoning.

Genetically modified organisms

The issue of the safety of GMO products is very relevant today. Much has not been proven, but animal studies are thought provoking.
Proponents of the use of GMOs have been arguing for several decades that such technologies will help humanity cope with the growing problem of hunger, but, as other scientists have found, the use of genetically modified products can cause all kinds of mutations, new types of allergies, pathologies of internal organs, and infertility .

Antibiotics

Today modern man increasingly dependent on medications. There are certainly benefits from medications. But you need to remember and understand that not all pills sold without a doctor's prescription are safe.
There is a widespread belief that by taking an antibiotic, a person will recover faster. But that's not true. The fact is that such drugs only block the reproduction of bacteria or, at best, kill them, but this is where their “responsibilities” end.
Antibiotics are very toxic. They poison almost the entire body. First the liver is attacked, then the immune system, kidneys and other organs.
By killing bacteria in the body, antibiotics create so-called evolutionary selection, which is characterized by the emergence of mutant bacteria that were able to survive and adapt.

Conclusion

“Why was all this invented?” - the question is relevant, but, unfortunately, there is no answer yet. On the one hand, there are positive arguments in favor of such inventions, but on the other hand, something that brings evil cannot be used for good. Decision-making on the use of the same nuclear facilities or GMOs is not provided ordinary people. Scientists play with science, with nature. Let's see where this leads in the future.

Palamarchuk Irina

Humanity persistently continues to generate technologies that can destroy it. Correspondent in No. 43 dated November 1, 2013, I selected the ten most harmful inventions that have become widespread in recent times

The modest American engineer Thomas Midgley could hardly have guessed that many decades after his death he would be called “the living organism that caused the greatest damage to the Earth’s ozone layer.”

Midgley worked for General Motors and in 1930 invented a substance designed to replace the toxic and harmful coolants that were previously made for household appliances, such as refrigerators. Midgley synthesized freon, a gas with high thermodynamic properties, which quickly received large-scale use in many areas of industry. Freon was used in refrigerators, air conditioners, and also in perfumes for the production of deodorants. Later it turned out that freon, decomposing in the atmosphere, releases chlorine and destroys the ozone layer of the Earth. The greenhouse activity of freon exceeds similar properties carbon dioxide several thousand times. And this terrible substance is still present in modern household appliances.

Humanity refuses to switch to alternative sources energy, despite the experience of Chernobyl and Fukushima. He continues to grow crops with the help of chemical fertilizers and poison himself with synthetic vitamin supplements instead of healthy vitamins from natural products.

“Humanity would rather worry about cooling its asses today than worrying about the future of its grandchildren decades from now,” says American environmentalist Martin Flynn.

Freon is not the only example of how technologies that are dangerous for millions of people and for the ecology of the planet simply refuse to go out of use - often despite the presence of serious and much safer alternatives.

Humanity refuses to switch to alternative energy sources, despite the experience of Chernobyl and Fukushima. He continues to grow crops with the help of chemical fertilizers and poison himself with synthetic vitamin supplements instead of healthy vitamins from natural products. Hundreds of millions of women continue to wear heels, although it has already been proven that heels are no less dangerous than nicotine and fast food.

GMO foods are gaining a foothold on supermarket shelves, and internal combustion engines are slow to give way to less environmentally friendly designs under car hoods.

Correspondent presents the ten most harmful inventions of humanity that have firmly established themselves in society over the past 100 years and are not going to become history.

Atomic Energy

Once upon a time, the peaceful atom was called a safe and reliable source of energy and declared the savior of mankind. Entire countries relied on this particular atom - it was assigned the role of gravedigger of the oil industry.

And then Chernobyl happened. And many states have revised their plans to use nuclear energy. It took more than two decades for the world to recover from the terrible disaster. Nuclear energy again has active lobbyists who prove that it is safe.

Then Fukushima struck, again showing that a peaceful atom can turn into a formidable weapon against its creators.

From an economic point of view, nuclear energy does seem to be very profitable, experts say. And the ecology of the nuclear power plant (at least until the moment of the disaster) remains at its best.

However, the risks of a catastrophe outweigh these benefits, which makes nuclear energy one of those greatest inventions of mankind, the use of which should be abandoned as soon as possible. This is the opinion of, for example, members of the German government. Until recently, this country declared its intention to increase the share of nuclear power in its energy sector. After Fukushima, German authorities publicly buried these plans.

But the threat has not passed, experts hasten to warn. For example, Türkiye intends to launch new reactors to reduce its dependence on energy imports. And Chinese authorities explain their desire to close many coal plants with environmental concerns. Their role in energy supply will be played by new nuclear reactors, which are planned to be more environmentally friendly.

“This is a triumph of hope over fear,” says Scientific American columnist David Bello.

Chemical fertilizers

Every gardener knows that without fertilizers it is impossible to grow marketable vegetables and fruits. But natural fertilizers for Agriculture not enough on an industrial scale. In this regard, humanity in the 20th century adopted the achievements of chemistry.

Experts call their widespread use one of the greatest troubles of our time. Thus, the results of a major study by American scientists last year showed that Singapore and Brazil lead the list of countries that cause serious harm to the planet’s ecology. AND main problem In these countries, it is not the emission of greenhouse gases, but the use of chemical fertilizers in agriculture.

Other states that are on the list of the worst pests also abuse chemical fertilizers. These are Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Mexico, Peru.

But, in addition to worsening the environmental situation, chemical fertilizers also pose a direct threat to human health. The dangers of nitrates began to be discussed in the 1980s, and in the 1990s, scientists established a direct link between many agricultural chemicals and the occurrence of cancer.

Gloomy discoveries are being made to this day. Recently, American scientists from the University of Washington in Seattle found that the substance atrazine, a popular fertilizer among US farmers, is the cause of the terrible disease gastroschisis (non-union of the abdominal walls) in infants. In the 30 years since atrazine's use in agriculture began, the number of cases of this disease in the United States has quadrupled.

Infants conceived in the spring (when farmers are actively using chemicals) are at serious risk if their parents live within a 25-kilometer radius of atrazine spray sites.

Cloning

Only time travel can compete for first place in the ranking of the most popular themes in world science fiction with cloning. For many decades, science fiction writers have put forward various versions of what will happen to humanity when cloning becomes a reality.

Some promised a bright future with the ability to treat deadly diseases using artificially grown organs, as well as solve the food problem by cloning animals. However, most others still leaned towards gloomy scenarios.

In medicine, optimists' hopes were based on the fact that a clone could be endowed with edited versions of genes, which would make it possible to grow people spared even the hypothetical possibility of serious diseases such as cancer or Alzheimer's disease.

On the other hand, many scientists believe that cloning carries risks. For example, with the long-term unpredictability of genetic changes.

Various diseases in modern world are a consequence of the accumulation of genetic mutations. The beginning of human cloning could lead to an aggravation of the process, experts fear.

Research data directly indicate that nature has prepared some mechanisms designed to protect natural methods of reproduction. Thus, several years ago, scientists from the University of Cambridge discovered a direct link between the method of conceiving a child and the likelihood of developing Beckwith-Widerman syndrome, a severe hereditary disease that destroys the structure of kidney tissue and increases the risk of cancer.

This syndrome occurs more often in babies conceived through artificial in vitro fertilization (IVF) than in babies conceived the traditional way. Manipulations with cells lead to the risk of genome damage, which, in turn, provokes hereditary pathologies.

Both IVF and the even more manipulative cloning technology damage not so much the genetic information itself, which is contained in the cell nucleus, but rather the mechanisms regulating the activity of various genes. This hypothesis explains the multiple failures of animal cloning. Experimental subjects are often born sick, and in general, the life expectancy of clones is shorter than that of animals conceived in the usual way.

Antibiotics

This invention, once declared a breakthrough in medicine, is today considered dangerous, and experts seriously propose abandoning the widespread use of antibiotics.

Antibiotics are substances that selectively suppress the vital functions of certain microorganisms, making it easy to quickly cope with diseases that took weeks and months to treat using traditional methods.

Bacteria have learned to adapt to antibiotics, which makes existing drugs less effective and the diseases themselves more aggressive.

However, the widespread use of antibiotics to treat any sneeze has led to the emergence of new threats. Bacteria have learned to adapt to antibiotics, which makes existing drugs less effective and the diseases themselves more aggressive. Even today, doctors cannot predict new forms of diseases that appear due to the fact that bacteria become accustomed to antibiotics.

Of course, there are a number of diseases that are difficult to cure without antibiotics, for example, when we're talking about about bacterial infections. But researchers warn: if ordinary people do not change their attitude towards treating colds, then by 2020 the bulk of antibiotics will simply stop working.

High heels

Scientists have been talking about the dangers of high heels for a long time, but the benefits of talking are no greater than the benefits of promoting the dangers of smoking. Hundreds of millions of women around the world wear high heels every day when leaving home.

Such a simple but extremely effective way to increase their attractiveness and raise self-esteem makes women ignore the words of doctors about the harm that high heels cause.

And the harm is serious. By lengthening her legs with the help of heels, a woman transfers her body weight to her toes, which provokes the development of arthritis and the formation of lumps on her toes, says American podiatrist Andrew Goldberg. It is enough to put on heels 7 cm high for the blood pressure in your toes to increase by 70%.

By lengthening her legs with the help of heels, a woman transfers her body weight to her toes, which provokes the development of arthritis and the formation of bunions on her toes.

But this is not the biggest problem. What's worse is that heels shift the body's center of gravity forward, disrupting the natural alignment of the hips relative to the spine when walking. The load on the knee joint immediately increases sharply, which increases the chances of arthritis.

Over time, various muscle and nervous diseases and even schizophrenia were added to the list of diseases in which heels are to blame.

And yet, the number of supporters of the idea that heels do more good than harm prevails. For example, Italian researcher Maria Cerruto from the University of Verona believes that heels not only make a woman look sexy, but also simply improve her sex life. In her research, she found that women who regularly wear high heels strengthen their pelvic floor muscles.

“Typically, women find specific exercises to target these muscles too difficult,” says Cerruto. “And heels can be a solution.”

The Age of Plastic

Plastic bags, considered a luxury a few decades ago, have become commonplace today. Each inhabitant of the Earth uses on average about 500 bags per year.

Plastic disposal is firmly at the top of the sad list of major culprits global warming. Plastic packaging makes up about 10% of all waste produced by humanity, and burning it leads to huge emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Long-term storage of food in plastic packaging leads to inflammatory processes in the gastrointestinal tract and even mass poisoning.

The natural breakdown of polyethylene and other plastics will take centuries, since there are no bacteria in nature that can process polymer compounds. Recent studies by American ecologists show that due to plastic waste, the population of the World Ocean is reduced by 100 thousand inhabitants every year.

Many countries are already implementing legislative initiatives to limit the use of plastic bags in retail trade. However, paper bags that can replace them are much more expensive.

Also, numerous research data indicate the dangers of plastic bottles, food containers and other objects that the inhabitants of the Earth encounter every day in everyday life. Thus, long-term storage of food in plastic packaging leads to inflammatory processes in the gastrointestinal tract and even mass poisoning.

Aluminum

Aluminum is becoming an increasingly popular material in industry. It has a number of advantages over other metals - it is lighter with considerable strength, and is resistant to corrosion. But from an environmental point of view, this metal is simply a monster.

When producing 1 ton of aluminum, approximately 40 kg of toxic substances that are unfriendly to environmentalists, such as fluorine, sulfur dioxide, carbon and nitrogen oxides, and heavy metals, are released into the environment. People exposed to these substances become en masse with purulent bronchitis and pneumonia.

Aluminum linked to increased risk of anemia and arthritis

The accusations against aluminum do not end there. Doctors believe that aluminum is to blame for the increased risk of anemia and arthritis. In particular, the blood of patients with arthritis always has high levels of aluminum. The risk of osteoporosis (brittle bones) also increases sharply with the accumulation of this metal in the body. There is evidence that aluminum negatively affects the nervous system.

In order for aluminum to enter the body, it is not necessary to work in production or eat from aluminum cookware. It is found in various forms in food products. Aluminum sulfates are common components of canned food and even cookies. These substances are also used for technical cleaning drinking water from impurities.

Synthetic vitamins

It will be very difficult to get off the vitamin needle that humanity sat on in the second half of the 20th century in the 21st century, says American physician Paul Offit, author of the best-selling book Do You Believe in Magic? - a book dedicated to debunking myths about vitamins.

According to Offit, for decades, mass propaganda has taught people the need to take vitamin supplements. It will take at least as much time for people to wean themselves off the pills and start following a diet that allows them to get healthy vitamins from food.

Vitamins are vital, but taking them in the form of supplements should only be taken by those people who, due to various circumstances, have developed a serious deficiency.

Taking supplements can have unpleasant consequences for healthy people, since their excess often leads to the development of dangerous diseases, scientists say.

Thus, studies have shown that large doses of vitamin C, which in the popular consciousness is associated almost with immortality, lead to accelerated formation of kidney stones and, perhaps, its excess is associated with some forms of cancer. Excess vitamin E increases the risk of prostate cancer. And excessive doses of vitamin A make bones more fragile. Excessive doses of iron and calcium included in multivitamin complexes are also dangerous. These substances become toxic when exposed to excessive concentrations.

“Our intuition is not always right,” says American medical commentator Stephen Salzberg. “And just because something is beneficial in small quantities doesn’t mean it won’t be harmful in larger doses.”

Genetically modified organisms

One of the most controversial phenomena of the second half of the 20th century, GMOs, still remains the object of fierce debate among scientists of all stripes. TO beginning of XXI century, it seemed that supporters of the safety of food obtained using various genetic technologies had the upper hand.

Although in last years the controversy flared up with renewed vigor. French researcher Gilles-Eric Séralini, professor of molecular biology at the University of Caen, added fuel to the smoldering fire of the debate.

Together with his colleagues, Séralini spent several years observing laboratory rats fed genetically modified corn. The results of the observations turned out to be truly scary: many rats showed complex pathologies, including mammary tumors, abnormal formations in the liver and kidneys. All these pathologies occurred in experimental animals five times more often than in the same rodents fed non-GMO corn.

Séralini's data caused a lot of noise. After publishing the results of the work, the scientist himself also told the world a detective story about obtaining funds for its implementation.

Since official science already considers the harmlessness of GMOs an axiom, it was not possible to obtain official funding for research that questions the generally accepted stereotype.

The work was ultimately financed by large retail chains in France, trying to protect themselves from new scandals like known history, when they were blamed for the mad cow disease epidemic due to GMO food.

Many animal studies show that regular consumption of GMO foods leads to health problems.

Séralini's data were published in the authoritative publication Food and Chemical Toxicology. Official science subjected his work to severe criticism, primarily from a methodological point of view. However, the Frenchman gained a lot of supporters who said that industrial lobbyists were behind the criticism. Their motivation is clear.

“Changing climatic conditions make farming more difficult,” explains Margaret Smith from Cornell University. “And humanity needs any ways to increase yields.”

“Many studies involving animals show that regular consumption of GMO foods leads to health problems,” says American physician Michael Wald. “They primarily affect the functioning of the stomach and intestines, and in some cases the liver, kidneys and lungs.”

However, there is not yet enough evidence that people suffer from these problems, Smith says. Further research is needed.

Internal combustion engines

Someday Elon Musk and his company Tesla Motors will be declared the saviors of humanity from climate disaster, Canadian environmentalist Michael Flynn is sure. This is provided, of course, that the world can actually cope with global warming, he adds.

Musk, often called the new Steve Jobs, rose to fame as one of the co-founders of PayPal. He later founded SpaceX, which became a pioneer in private space exploration, but lately he has been more often featured in the media as the father of the first truly interesting electric vehicles.

They are interesting, according to Flynn, because they can attract consumers looking for comfort and prestige in a car. Until now, electric cars have been boring and small means of transportation, which only people seriously concerned about the environment could get into of their own free will, Flynn states.

Tesla Motors sells big and beautiful electric cars. And this is a step into the future - soon gasoline engines will become history. The success of Tesla Motors stimulates classic manufacturers, who, one after another, announce the release of new models that do not burn fuel.

A massive abandonment of internal combustion engines would lead to a significant change in the environmental picture of the world, experts say. In particular, environmentalists estimate that in any typical metropolis, cars are the source of about 70% of the thermal energy that the city releases into the environment. It is also estimated that cars account for 20% of all carbon dioxide emissions.

Thus, gasoline engines take second place in the list of global culprits. warming after fossil fuel power plants.

This material was published in No. 43 of the Korrespondent magazine dated November 1, 2013. Reproduction of Korrespondent magazine publications in full is prohibited. The rules for using materials from the Korrespondent magazine published on the Korrespondent.net website can be found.