SCIENCE OF TODAY AND TOMORROW

SCIENCE OF TODAY AND TOMORROW

Scientific progress is faster today than ever before. This progress is reflected not only by the discoveries made each year but also by the thousands of scientists involved in the research. As the number of scientists has grown, cooperation among them has become increasingly important. Many achievements have resulted from scientists working in research teams. Hundreds of scientific journals, professional societies, and computerized information systems make it possible for scientists to exchange information quickly and easily.

Powerful and advanced equipment is helping scientists in many fields to expand our knowledge about the world. For example, particle accelerators, which speed up the movement of the particles that make up atoms, have enabled physicists to create and study quarks and other basic units of matter. Magnetic resonance imaging and other advanced techniques produce images of tissues inside the body and help to identify certain diseases. Improvements in computers have enabled mathematicians to solve problems at unheard of speeds. New telescopes, satellites, orbiting observatories, and space probes have provided scientists with information about distant reaches of the universe.

A process called genetic engineering has become a valuable tool in genetics research. In this process, an organism's hereditary make-up is altered. Geneticists have engineered bacteria to produce human insulin, a hormone used to treat diabetes, and human interferon, a protein that fights viral diseases.

Scientists still have many areas to explore. Astronomers are only beginning to investigate the idea of the inflationary universe - that is, the idea that the universe expanded extremely fast in the first fraction of a second following its origin in the big bang explosion. Physicists are working to develop grand unified theories that would explain the interactions between the elementary particles of atoms and the fundamental forces of the physical world.

The science of today and tomorrow promises to continue to improve our understanding of the universe and to give us ever greater control over nature. But at the same time, serious debates have arisen over such issues as whether it is moral to interfere in the genetic make-up of human beings or to use lasers for destructive purposes. In the future, scientists will have an increasing responsibility to ensure that the best possible uses are made of knowledge from scientific research.

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