Scientific Revolution

The Scientific Revolution

The Scientific Revolution was a historical period that started in 1543 and ended around 1700. It was most distinguished as a time where people began to look beyond traditional views to try to make sense of the world around them. Some notable scientists in the scientific revolution were Nicolaus Copernicus, who was the first to propose that the earth and all other planets, revolved around the sun, and Sir Isac Newton, who created Newton's universal law of gravitation. These scientist, along with many others, were instrumental in developing many scientific discoveries that are rudimentary in our lives today.           
                                                                                                          portrait of Isaac Newton (below, right)

Claytronics

Even though the scientific revolution has ended, technology will always continue to advance. I think one of the most interesting prospects of future technology is something I read about called claytronics or programmable matter. The premise of claytronics is that in the future we will be able to have an ordinary object, like a tv remote, made out of claytronics that could morph into something else, like a fork, on command. I think the technology holds a lot of potential and it isn't too far from being developed.

prototype claytronic technology (below)

Click on this link to find out more about the emerging technology.
                                                                 
Artificial Intelligence 

Another thing that was mentioned in the hyper doc that I think is interesting is AI or artificial intelligence that could be available in the future. There are a few things that resemble it that are out now like 'hey google' and 'Alexa'. while both of these are always listening for

commands and are generally accurate many times they mishear phrases or aren't able to understand commands. Click this link to hear about sometimes Alexa has malfunctioned. However, with time I think AI technology will definitely improve and has a lot of potential as a future technology.

WiFi Radiation Experiment 

The experiment done by 9th graders on the effect radiation from phones gives off was an interesting discovery. In the experiment, they used cress seeds in trays and kept them in two different rooms at the same temperature while giving them the same amount of water. They placed two WiFi routers in each room, the radiation from the routers closely mimicked the one from a cellphone. They turned one router on and left the other off. After leaving it for twelve days they came back to discover that the sprouts in the room with the inactive WiFi router were still healthy and growing while the seeds in the rooms where the router was on had mostly died away. In this experiment, the group of 9th-grade girls was able to conclude that WiFi radiation had many unknown downsides and have had to potential to cause many other problems to our health.

seeds left exposed to wi-fi radiation (left) seeds left with an inactive router (right) 

The CRISPR-cas9

Another area of technology that has been discussed is the possibility of creating a genetically engineered baby. An MIT technology review artificial discussed this topic. In it, a scientist named Luhan Yang had been key in creating new ways to edit DNA using a machine called the CRISPR-cas9.

CRISPR-Cas9 is a genome editing tool that is creating a buzz in the science world. It is faster, cheaper and more accurate than previous techniques of editing DNA and has a wide range of potential applications.

Luhan Yang, along with another scientist, George Church, started to experiment on pigs and cows. It was proposed that the new technology could be used to edit the genes while the fetus is in the embryo stage. This could correct certain strands of DNA that make the fetus more prone to diseases that run in the family, this is known as germline engineering. Other things that would possible with the new technology would be to alter the appearance of the baby or even make them more intelligent. Germline engineering would be passed on to future generations while physical genetic changes wouldn't.

diagram of the CRISPR-cas9 (left)

Still, the technology has incredible potential to do both good or harm. Many countries have deemed genetic tampering as unethical and outlawed it, however, it has remained legal in the United States. Luhan Yang has dropped out of the project in recent years, however, it is still it currently being tested in three other laboratories in America.“What you are talking about is a major issue for all humanity,” says Merle Berger...“It would be the biggest thing that ever happened in our field.
                                                                                                 
  breakdown of how the CRISPR would work (below)

Many people still argue about whether or not it would be right to sell this new technology to the public. personally, I think that germline correction is innovative, useful and could save many who are dying from inherited diseases. While I think this feature of the CRISPR could be useful some I also think that it wouldn't be right to sell everything the CRISPR is able to do. Things such as changing appearance and eventually intelligence would cause conflict since it would favor those rich enough to afford the operation.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Cloning Humans: the Pros and Cons

Another issue that's very controversial considering the technology doesn't exist yet, is the concept of cloning humans. Ever since the first sheep, Dolly, was cloned in 1996, it has been regularly discussed, not only in science fiction but for the possibility that the technology to do so would be available one day. Here are some pros and cons listed on an article by HRF (healthresearchfunding.org) Pros                                                                                                   - As humans reproduce, defective genes mutate and cause more problems for the next generation, cloning healthy human cells would eliminate this.- People who were traumatically injured would recover quicker since their own cells could be cloned to speed up the healing process.- If a person was infertile a younger version of them or their partner could be cloned without them having to undergo other infertility treatment.  Cons                                                                                                 - Since the people who would provide that cells that would be cloned would already be older, and therefore have older cells, it is possible that a clone could die prematurely or have a shorter lifespan because they started off with the older cells in the embryo stage.

- While the clones would take on an individual personality, it is speculated that they could be treated as less of an individual and a lower life form because they are simply a copy of someone else. It would create a whole new division in society that would undoubtedly lead to other issues.

- It would also take away some of the value of human life. It is possible that while some people might treat clones as lesser people, it is also plausible that a naturally made human could be killed off and merely be replaced with a clone that is a perfected version of them. 

In my opinion, I think the risks are too high to begin cloning humans. the impact that would have on society cant be predicted, and it would lead to new problems that couldn't be prepared for if cloning began. The only area where cloning could be both risk-free and beneficial is cloning your own cells to speed up recovery because you would not be creating additional intelligent life.