Learning Objectives

Unit 1 Gaining on Previous Success

Lead In

Reading

field of science

achievements

practical application

(comments)

Text A

Over the last 50 years our knowledge about elementary particles and their interactions has advanced tremendously. Actually, a whole ‘zoo’ of new particles has been detected, some of which are extremely short-lived. The development of new particle accelerators operating at much higher energies was a crucial factor in the rapid advances in particle physics. Theoretical physicists have made substantial progress in uncovering the principles governing their interaction. Another breakthrough was the experimental demonstration of the existence of antimatter.

Moreover the 20^th century physics has had a tremendous technological impact. The development of the atomic bomb and as a consequence the increased knowledge of nuclear physics led to developing reactors to produce electric energy.

Giant steps in research in electron optics led to the development of instruments such as high resolution electron microscope, the scanning tunneling microscope, etc. that allow single atoms to be studied and manipulated. A new area of technology was born.

Lasers have proved to have innumerable technological applications. These include various measuring instruments such as detectors for air pollution, high-speed photography, new mass storage devices for computers (CD-ROMs), surgical instruments of various kinds, as well as methods to trap and cool atoms.

Perhaps the most significant scientific innovation in the last 50 years was research on semiconductors. Microprocessors had an enormous impact on electrical engineering. Both their astounding efficiency and small size gave rise to a number of applications in the most diverse fields. Although computer design had started earlier this century, the extremely rapid development of ever faster computers with vastly expanded memory became possible due to transistors integrated in microprocessors. Virtually all of today’s computing and communication devices are based on this technology.

Among the other considerable developments is the invention of photo-voltaic cells which can convert light into electric energy. They bring the promise that some day much of our energy needs will be supplied directly by the sun without producing serious pollution.

Text B

The Earth sciences deal with the history of our planet. This kind of knowledge becomes essential for improving our understanding of the factors that control the global environment. In addition, it helps to develop more effective ways of finding and assessing natural resources, energy, and water. Methods for the prediction of natural events such as Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, floods or El Niño have been greatly improved. Furthermore, important insights into the history of the Earth’s climate have been obtained through the analysis of sedimentary records or ice cores from Greenland. Such knowledge will be critical to differentiate global change caused by human activities from naturally occurring processes in the global climate system.

Another important development in the Earth sciences took place in the 1950s, when the theory of plate tectonics was empirically confirmed. Although an earlier version of this theory had already been formulated in the beginning of the 20^th century, it was largely ignored because no one could imagine the kind of forces necessary for pushing continents.

Earth science will continue to play the central role in diagnosing and addressing some of the most pressing challenges, such as climate change and sustainable resource allocation that the global community faces.

Text C

Biologists had already speculated that the key to understanding how genes can transmit biological information from generation to generation must be sought in their molecular structure.

Once the structure of DNA was established, the next question was how the cell ‘reads’ the genetic information stored in its DNA. In a remarkably short time, a small group of molecular biologists cracked the so-called ‘genetic code’.

Since this so-called ‘molecular revolution’ in biology, much progress has been made towards understanding the mechanisms by which a cell’s genome directs the biochemical processes. This kind of knowledge plays an increasingly important role in the development of new therapies. In addition, molecular biology has originated areas such as cell biology and neurobiology.

Genetic engineering techniques rapidly became an indispensable tool for biological and biomedical research. The human genomic DNA sequence will be extremely useful to bio-medical scientists for understanding how the human body functions and how diseases originate. However, the Human Genome Project has also raised strong ethical issues. For example, the possible misuse of such knowledge, the protection of individual privacy, intellectual property rights and the protection of universal access to public information. For this reason, the Human Genome Project is accompanied by studies of the potentially far-reaching social consequences the new genetics may have.

The possible applications of genetic engineering in biotechnology and medicine are only beginning to emerge. Genetically engineered crop plants have been bred which harbour genes resistant to various plant pathogens. There is also an increasing number of therapeutic and diagnostic pharmaceutical products which are made by genetically engineered bacteria.

Showing relationships between ideas

To connect words and phrases that have the same grammatical function in a sentence we use conjunctions, prepositions and adverbs.

• conjunctions*

e.g.: The twentieth century saw much momentous change that either brought enormous

benefits to human beings, or threatens the very existence of the human species.

Listening

field of science

_______________

Astronomy

___________________

achievements

_____________________

_________________;

the use of diffusion-reaction equations to understand biological pattern formation;

______________________ _____________________;

_________________ and scientific computing

________________ and rings around the planets, nature of comets;

____________________;

______________________ ___________________; Earth resource satellites

_____________________

__________________;

Developing tailor-made polymers, ___________________ and ceramics;

___________________ _____________of protein hormone;

_____________________

____________________of haemoglobin

practical application

Weather forecasting;

_____________________

_____________________

____________________

____________________;

Tracking hurricanes and storms,

____________________, ___________________

and access to Earth’s resources; ____________________ ____________________

and crop diseases

Synthesis and production of ______________, ____

______________ and

__________________;

__________________of insulin;

Developing compounds with specific _____________

___________________

Writing

Get real

Reading

The first compound microscope

Early Microscope

Biological microscope

Atomic Force Microscope

A

B

1. curvature

1. allowing you to see through it

2. refraction

2. the fineness of detail that can be distinguished in an image, as on a video display terminal.

3. to blur

3. a measurement in space, for example the height, width or length of sth

4. resolution

4. make or become unclear or less distinct

5. wavelength

5. the fact of being curved or the degree to which something is curved

6. transparent

6. the turning or bending of any wave, such as a light or sound wave, when it passes from one medium into another of different optical density

7. dimension

7. the distance between one peak or crest of a wave of light, heat, or other energy and the next corresponding peak or crest

Study help: Time lines

The time line provides a study tool that allows you to organize information that is presented chronologically. Time lines would be effective to use in classes in which you present historical, biological and other developments.

To make the order clear and to show the sequence of events, we mention dates and time, and we also use various links and connectives.

Circa* 1000AD

The first vision aid was invented (inventor unknown) called a reading stone. It was a glass sphere that magnified when laid on top of reading materials

Circa 1284

Italian, Salvino D'Armate is credited with inventing the first wearable eye glasses

1590

Two Dutch eye glass makers, Zaccharias Janssen and son Hans Janssen experimented with multiple lenses placed in a tube. The Janssens observed that viewed objects in front of the tube appeared greatly enlarged, creating both the forerunner* of the compound microscope and the telescope

1665

English physicist, Robert Hooke looked at a sliver of cork* through a microscope lens and noticed some "pores" or "cells" in it

1674

Anton van Leeuwenhoek built a simple microscope with only one lens to examine blood, yeast*, insects and many other tiny objects. Leeuwenhoek was the first person to describe bacteria, and he invented new methods for grinding* and polishing microscope lenses that allowed for curvatures providing magnifications of up to 270 diameters, the best available lenses at that time

18th century

Technical innovations improved microscopes, leading to microscopy becoming popular among scientists. Lenses combining two types of glass reduced the "chromatic effect" the disturbing halos* resulting from differences in refraction of light

1830

Joseph Jackson Lister reduces spherical aberration* or the "chromatic effect" by showing that several weak lenses used together at certain distances gave good magnification without blurring the image. This was the prototype for the compound microscope

1872

Ernst Abbe, then research director of the Zeiss Optical Works, wrote a mathematical formula called the "Abbe Sine Condition". His formula provided calculations that allowed for the maximum resolution in microscopes possible

1903

Richard Zsigmondy developed the ultramicroscope that could study objects below the wavelength of light. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1925

1932

Frits Zernike invented the phase-contrast microscope that allowed for the study of colorless and transparent biological materials for which he won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1953

1931

Ernst Ruska co-invented the electron microscope for which he won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1986. An electron microscope depends on electrons rather than light to view an object, electrons are speeded up in a vacuum until their wavelength is extremely short, only one hundred-thousandth that of white light. Electron microscopes make it possible to view objects as small as the diameter of an atom

1981

Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer invented the scanning tunneling microscope that gives three dimensional images of objects down to the atomic level. Binnig and Rohrer won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1986. The powerful scanning tunneling microscope is the strongest microscope to date

Get real

Writing

Study help: Narrating and reporting

When we are writing about past events the usage of Past tenses and chronological order are common. The order in which things happened should be clear and easy to understand.

In the Realm of Science

Bot

a computer program that performs a particular task again and again many times; shortened from robot

Breed

to make animals or plants produce young ones in a controlled way, in order to develop new and better types.

Cellular

connected with or consisting of the cells (often used in reference to a telephone system that works by radio instead of wires)

Cyber

a prefix for things related to computers, especially the internet (e.g. cybercafe - a place where you can buy drinks and use computers at the same time)

Gene therapy

a type of medical treatment that changes someone’s genes to help them get rid of a disease or cure a medical condition.

Genetic engineering

when scientists change the genes of a person, plant or animal in order to make it stronger, healthier, bigger, more attractive, etc.

Genome -

the complete set of genes in a cell or living thing

Gizmo

a general word for a small piece of equipment, often one that does sth in a new and clever way

Hi-definition

a system which provides very high quality images in more detail than ordinary images

Nanotech

short for nanotechnology - an area of science that deals with creating extremely small tools and machines

Side effect

an extra, usually bad, occurrence caused by taking a drug. It is also used in non-medical English in a more neutral way.

Sci-fi

science-fiction

Teleconferencing

a way of having meeting between people who are in different places, using video cameras and computer systems that are connected to each other.

Wi-Fi

short for wireless fidelity - a system for sending data over computer networks using radio waves instead of wires

Wireless

a system of sending and receiving signals (not using wires)

Unit 1. Progress Monitoring

In this unit you have worked on the following vocabulary related to the topic “Latest Achievements and Future Developments in Science and Technology”.

Tick (V) the points you are confident about and cross (X) the ones you need to revise.

Unit 2 Visions of the Future

Lead In

Reading

1.

How would you like to have your very own shape-shifter*? Perhaps a liquid metal T-1000 Terminator to help around the house. Or a universal tool kit that could reshape itself into any implement at the press of a button. For an astronaut in orbit, an army mechanic in remote terrain* or even a homeowner trying to fix a furnace* on a cold winter night, it could be just the thing.

Well, one day maybe. The traditional approach to building shape-shifting devices has been to use materials based on shape memory alloys*, polymer sheets or nanoparticles. But these have proved difficult to control and have other limitations, so researchers have begun taking a different and less exotic approach.

Their approach is known as self-reconfigurable robotics, and it takes advantage of recent advances in robot hardware, communications,etc.

3.

Batallions of super-soldiers could be selected for specific duties on the basis of their genetic make-up and then constantly monitored for signs of weakness. If a soldier is struggling, a digital "buddy"* might step in and warn them about nearby threats.

Neuroscience offers huge scope* for improving soldiers' performance on the battlefield. Within five years, biomarkers might be used to assess how well a soldier's brain is functioning..

Genetic testing might also enable recruitment officers to determine which soldiers are best for specialist jobs.

However, wars are becoming more like a computer game, which means that in the future having the genes that make you a good physical fighter might not be so important as having excellent hand-eye coordination.

*shape-shifter - фантастическое существо,

способное принимать любой облик

*terrain - местность, территория, район

*furnace - очаг; печь

*alloys – сплав

*buddy – дружище, приятель

*scope - возможности

4

People with enhanced senses, superhuman bodies and sharpened minds are already walking among us. Are you ready for your upgrade?

They're here and walking among us: people with technologically enhanced senses, superhuman bodies and artificially sharpened minds. The first humans to reach a happy, healthy 150^th birthday may already have been born. And that's just the start of it.

The industrial and information age has passed into history, overtaken by a revolution in bioscience.

2.

Soon teams of up to 40 robots could be employed as border security guards and outside airports. The patrolling robots will use Wi-Fi to share what they see, sniff and hear. They may even be able to triangulate* the exact position of an intruder, or the source of plume of smoke from an explosion, something no single robot could do.

The ideal is swarms* of robots that need no central control. And McLurkins’s robots have proved the principle that, equipped with the right algorithms, swarms of hardware can have autonomous control.

*triangulate – дать трехмерное изображение

*swarm – здесь, стая

(Adapted from: http//www.newscientist.com)