Postęp nowoczesnych technologii naprzód. (modern technological advances)

From the beginning of the 20th century we can observe that there are many modern technological advances in every domain of our life. It is very hard to mention all achievements of our world. Undoubtedly when we talk about technological advances we should tell something about computers which are now, in my opinion, indispensable part of our life. They have got a big impact on our work and study. They are also useful in conducting business transactions or carring out research. Many domains of science or technology are dependent on computers. They are revolutioning the design, printing, accountancy, banking, telecommunication, energetics, mining industry and the railway system. For example: in factories computers are used for controlling and analysing many industrial prosesses. Besides they are used to manufacture certain products. They are also incorporated into the products, such as cars, trains, ships, weapons or machine tools.
As I said computers have got the wide application. We can use them in education young people. There are a lot of secondary schools in the world which educate students how to use the computers. It realizes us that they play an important role in our life. Besides they allow us to save the time, because they perform complicated mathematical calculations in minutes, they can improve data gathering, testing and analysis. What’s more? Computers are very useful in medicine. They help us to save the life of many people. They are used in medical diagnosis, patient monitoring and general hospital administration. Sometimes they are better than doctors because they are not nervous and they do not do the mistakes as often as people. I cannot imagine the world without computers, but I know, that not everybody thinks the same about them.
There are some people in the world who hate them because they lost their job or had other awful accidents with computers. One of them is Mr Arthur Henderson who lives in Surrey. He is a very careful man. He is especially careful about electricity. He never uses very much, so his bill, which he pays every three month, is usually around 25. Someday Mr Henderson had a nasty surprise. When his latest electricity bill arrived, it was for 259.00. Over ten times as much. When he saw it he almost had a heart attack. He was very upset. Later his sister rang the Electricity Board for him. As a result of her phone call, Mr Henderson got a corrected bill from the Electricity Board a few days later. He also got a note of apology. Computer made a mistake and it put a decimal point in the wrong place and added a ”0”.
Many people say that the future of our civilization depends on computers. It is true but in my opinion we should remember that computers do not replace people in every domain of our life. I talk to you about it because last month I watched the programme about the new procesor PentiumIII and I heard that there are a new computer programme which allows adults to leave alone their small children with the computer at home. It will teach them to say, walk and so on. In my opnion it is not a good idea because people have something which computers have not got - feelings. Computers do not feel - they cannot love, like, hate others, they are not people. We must remember about it! Besides adults should control what kids and teenagers do with the computer and in which way they use them. It is very important thing and it is very often connected with the Internet.
This international network of computers is being used by 80 million people in the world. Many of us think that this medium will soon change the way we communicate, shop, study, conduct business and publish. The Internet has unlimited possibilities. In an hour’s time the users of the Net can send an important message to one hundred thousand people, visit the most beautiful places all over the world, buy a computer, study the weather report and even get married. The most popular way of using the Net is e-mail (electronic mail). This system enables the holder to send information to the other hemisphere in just a second. This telegram costs only as much as a local telephone connection and is the fastest in the world.
Another technological advance which is connected with the modern world is nuclear power. It seems in some ways much cleaner than other sources of energy. Take oil or coal an example. When they are used in power stations, a great deal of smoke is produced. The smoke contains a great deal of acid. Even if the smoke is cleaned by filters, a lot of the acid still escapes into the air. This can be carried by clouds from power stations (for example) in England to Scandinavia. When it rains there, the acid comes down with the rain. As a result, the fish in lakes and trees in forests begin to die.
But many people are still against nuclear power. They believe that the problem is not just the danger of an accident in the atomic power station. Highly radioactive material is used. Radioactivity can cause cancer and other illnesses. Only a part of the material is used. The rest - called waste - is just as radioactive. Although it is still dangerous, this radioactive waste is often thrown into the sea. Nobody can be certain what will happen to it there. Only one thing is certain. It will be highly dangerous for at least 240.000 years!
Now there are less proponents than opponents of nuclear power. It is connected with the Chernobyl disaster. This shocking event has changed people’s attitudes and increased opposition to fission. Now we know that after few years we can still see the big impact this event in the Chernobyl on the people, animals and our emvironment. There are some animals with two, three heads or eight legs, there are more people in the world who have got tumour, our food is denaturated.
The same problem was shown in the film ”The China Syndrome”. What if there is an explosion in the nuclear reactor (the part that produces the nuclear energy)? If one explodes near a large city, how many people will die? Other experts argue that this is impossible. But the argument will go on for a long time. And it is also clear that nuclear power can never be the only answer. It is only one possible answer. Some other possibilities are solar power (from the sun), wind power and tidal power (from the waves and tides in the ocean). And we must conserve energy, too. Conservation will become more and more of a necessity.
There are many people in the world who know that they must find another way to gain the power. For example: in England the technical experts and the politicians agree that the barren windswept cliffs of Scotland are ideal sites for the huge wind turbines which will help to meet Britain’s growing need for power. Some even argue that the scale, shape and motion of the turbines will improve the environment in the same way that a beautiful statue enhances a garden. But locals, like Jim Campbell, are not convinced and he said: ’I can see that one of these things on its own might look good to some people but when you get a hundred of them threshing away then it’s just an eyesore’. I know that this is a very good idea to gain the power but in my opinion the expert should think about the locals before they will decide to build these huge wind turbines.
When we talk about modern technological advances we should also tell something about space travel and medicine. I told you about these things when I had got the topic about ”Wonders of the modern world” so I think that I do not have to tell it one more time.
At the end I would like to tell you that all these things which I talked about are not as important as we are. Sometimes people lost the true and they think that the best things in the world are the material things which we can buy for the money. This is the worst mistake which we can do. Nothing has replace us the best friend which can be only the human because he feels as we. He can love, like, hate us, smile, cry. He is authentic and even the best computer programme does not replace him.