The word technology comes from two Greek cognates: “techn-” meaning "art, skill, craft", and “logia” meaning "study of". Technology is the making, use and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques and systems of organization to manipulate and change the world. The first technologies were probably heavy sticks used for weapons. The two great early breakthroughs for our ancestors were the discovery of fire and then the invention of the wheel. These two technologies allowed mankind to cook food, stay warm, fend off predators (fire) and carry heavier loads (wheel).
It is believed that the domestication of fire occurred before 1,000,000 BC. By 380,000 BC mankind were erecting wooden huts for living spaces. About 8,000 BC man started to move out of the Stone Age and to make items from copper. Bronze and brass alloys were discovered in 4,000 BC and the use of steel dates to around 1,400 BC. In general scientific discovery and technological advance was very slow until mankind reached the Industrial Revolution in the late 1700s.
The Industrial Revolution bought the combustion engine, motorized transport, factories and thanks to the slightly earlier Agricultural Revolution big urban conurbations, better food supply and an understanding of how to increase harvest yields.
Now zoom forward to the second decade of the Twenty-first Century. In just over 300 years mankind has invented an incredible array of technologies: the TV, jet planes, x-ray machines, wireless communication, satellite technology, stem cell technology, nanotechnology, cloning technology, nuclear technology, information technology and so on. Just listing all the major technological breakthroughs in the last 300 years would take pages of text.
What is obvious is that man’s rate of technological progress is increasing exponentially. It took 992,000 years after the domestication of fire to leave the Stone Age, and yet in 1882 the first electric car was invented and by 1969 man had got to the moon (just 80 years). The speed at which computer technology has improved is even faster.
Robert Anton Wilson following Alfred Korzybski sees the upward curve of human inventiveness, technology and systems of symbols as following a mathematical formula. This might be over-optimistic. Indeed Wilson predicted there would be the possibility of defeating death by 2000.
Nevertheless, the boundaries of scientific understanding are being pushed backed as you read this article. The CERN particle accelerator is on the verge of re-creating the original ‘big bang’. Theoretical advances lead to increased engineering ability and the possibilities of new innovative technologies. For children being born now, their lifetimes might bear witness to advances that we cannot begin to imagine at this moment in time.
However, a note of caution needs to be sprinkled over too much enthusiasm. It is becoming increasingly the case that we are losing control of our new technologies. Ever since the first nuclear bombs were dropped on Japan in 1945 the world has been struggling to contain the spread of nuclear weapons.
It is not just weapons. The level of sophistication of technology means that we cannot repair it. Mechanical cars can be fixed using basic tools and spare parts, not so with cars that have digitized many of their internal systems. Whereas in the 1930s people built and maintained their own radios, few people today would dream of trying to fix their television.
Marshall McLuhan in 1964 wrote, “We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us.” This is becoming increasingly true. We are helpless to alter the technologies that we consume. Obviously many people jail break their Apple technology but the really smart technicians are working on ever increasing ways to stop this happening. Information technology is at present full of potential for re-programming, adaptation, mutation etc. but the big corporations are trying to stop the hacker movement and the Open Source revolution. Business often drives technological advance but it never wants to lose control of these advances because the loss of control means a loss of revenue.
Moreover, the McLuhan quote highlights how we invented TV and then allowed our children to be brainwashed by the medium. Technologies in the hands of so-called ‘social technocrats’ is often a frighteningly powerful tool for creating docile consumer-citizens who are happy to believe black is in fact white if they are told so enough times.
As technology marches forward we must fight to control technology and not let ourselves become passive receptors and consumers of technology. It is like great art - it belongs in public spaces for all to see and appreciate, not in the hands of private collectors who are waiting to sell when the price is right. It shouldn’t be forgotten that Prometheus, as the myth goes, stole fire from the gods to help humanity. He suffered eternal torture for his transgression. We must never let the gods steal the fire back from us.
In this day and age, technology has taken the center stage in our everyday lives. We rely on technology for nearly everything. It makes our life easier, more manageable and enjoyable. With the advent of computers and the internet, more and more people are becoming a couch potato. Even children nowadays tend to stay longer indoors than outdoors. With game consoles such as xbox 360 and Wii, children have more incentive to stay at home and just play there all day long. Portable gaming consoles have also swept the games industry with handheld devices such as the PSP and Nintendo DS. These devices keeps the kids hooked into the screens.
It’s undeniable that these games have a positive on kids. Some games are meant to stimulate critical thinking, time management as well as hone scientific and arithmetic skills. While they have a positive impact on brain development, the kids’ physical development can be compromised, if parents are not vigilant enough. With all these techy toys, kids are having a more sedentary lifestyle than before. Some parent even use technology as a baby sitter – I can’t blame them, sometimes parents too much on their hands.
Childhood Obesity
One of the dangers that our kids are facing these days is childhood obesity. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that the incidence of childhood obesity has increased more than three-fold in the past 3 decades. There are now more than 20 percent of kids who are obese and these figures are rising. In response to this alarming statistic, the government has launched various initiatives and campaigns to get children playing outdoors. Schools are given funding to host and initiate events that involve getting children to parks, zoo and museums. Thay even have more intense physical education courses.
Here is a video of how our government leaders plan to tackle this growing epidemic:
What Parents can do
While it’s good to know that the authorities have plans in place, parents still have to do their part on preventing this problem. Some might have kids who are already obese. That said, it is important for parents to initiate outdoor activities and get kids to play outdoors, be it in their backyard or at the local playground. Parents can a get a playground set for the kids which usually include a swing set, slide and climber. With so many options to choose from, you will surely find the right one that will suit your kids.
If you have a big backyard, you can get a bigger playground set and invite your neighbors’ kids to come over and play with your children. This will keep the youngsters active and also develop their social skills as they interact with other kids.
If you haven’t yet seen 3-D printers in action then prepare to be amazed. If you can create a 3-D image of an object, whether it be something large or small, then the technology now exists for that object to be recreated before your eyes using a 3-D printer, which works on one very simplistic level, in exactly the same way as an ink jet printer creates a copy of a 2-D image.
The 3-D image is fed into the printer and then the object is created by laying down thin layer after thin layer of a polymer liquid, starting at the base and working slowly upwards until the object is completed.
The possibilities for this technology are huge but today this method has meant a real cost saving within the manufacturing sector and promises to revolutionise areas like the toy industry. Until now creating the prototype for a new toy has involved model makers crafting their models in clay and then going through the long winded and expensive process of having that model molded into a plastic replica. Now or course the clay model can be scanned into a 3-D image and recreated in plastic almost instantly.
This kind of technology can cut down the development time needed on a new project from a year to just 3 months. Does this mean we could be seeing four times as many Lego sets on our shelves in the future? Only time will tell, but hopefully the advances in these areas should at least mean cutting production costs which in turn could lead to cuts in retail prices.
The first heart rate monitor was invented in 1977. For the next 5 years it was only available to professional athletes. Finally in 1983 they became available at retail. Since 1983 the technology in heart rate monitors has been increasing at an incredible rate. The latest heart rate monitor reviews reveal modern marvels your simply through on your wrist without even thinking.
Even a simple heart rate monitor has a wireless receiver to communicate with the chest strap. Add that to the watch and all the electronics and you have a sophisticated piece of technology. That is just a simple one which sells for well under $50.
A higher end heart rate monitor can even contain a full GPS receiver. That is incredible. The first GPS receivers were made by the US Air Force by Rockwell Collins in 1985. They were large and heavy and they were no where near the capability of a modern wrist-mounted GPS receiver.
If the industry can put this much technology into a wrist-mounted watch in just under 30 years, just imagine what they can do in the next 30 years.
One of the major breakthroughs in manufacturing started with the physicist Joseph Priestley in 1770. He noticed the erosive effects of electrical discharges. By subjecting a conductive metal to discharges of electricity very small pieces of metal were eroded from the metal. The technology was taken forward in the 1940s by two Russian scientists, Dr. B. R. Lazarenko and Dr. N. I. Lazarenko who stumbled upon a way of controlled machining for metals. They were looking for a weapon but the concomitant find was to prove more important.
Today EDM or electrical discharge machining is of vital importance to many industries. It allows for precision cutting of metals and alloys, especially very hard materials such as carbide, titanium, kovar and hastelloy. The process works with an electrode, often a carbon graphite electrode, that sends a high electrical discharge down a wire that wears away metal. The process is often called sink erosion or wire erosion. All the time cutting is in progress water is used to remove the electrical discharges as well as flush away the removed particles of metal.
With EDM cutting techniques complete accuracy can be achieved. Nowadays the electrode holder is linked to a robot arm that is in turn linked to a computer. This means exact copies of digitally designed drawings both 2D and 3D can be cut into any metal that is electrically conducive. This level of accuracy is vital to precision technology that is needed in the auto industry and the aerospace industry. This is type of accuracy cannot be achieved by hand tooling material.
EDM technology has revolutionized so many manufacturing industries and is the future of cutting.