• Question: How has science impacted your life?

    Asked by Anish to Alex, Clay, Keegan on 5 May 2016.
    • Photo: Clay Robinson

      Clay Robinson answered on 5 May 2016:


      Science is responsible for so many things I cannot list them for you. It is the source of so many innovations and inventions that have made our lives easier, and maybe better.
      Here are a few: refrigerators, microwave ovens, electric lights, heaters (and occasionally air conditioners), flush toilets, glasses (Being able to see clearly is wonderful!), machines to wash and dry laundry and dishes, musical instruments, cameras, the internal combustion engine (that made mass transportation possible), airplanes, computers, telephones that morphed into smartphones, telescopes, microscopes, the ability to send signals over waves so that we can have radar and cell signals and wifi and Bluetooth, and that list goes on and on and on.
      And in health, I have a seizure disorder, and here are a few ways science helped me. I was scanned in every way possible, and have been radioactive as they put tracers in me to try to understand what was happening in my brain. All of those scanners were developed by scientists: MRIs, CAT scanners, PET scanners. The medicine I take every day to control my seizures was developed by scientists. The neurologist I see is a medical doctor, a scientist who specializes in studying the brain and nervous system.
      For work, science developed the methods we use to analyze soils, water, and air for the elements they contain, for nutrients, and for pollutants. Science helps us understand how many nutrients plants need to grow and be healthy. Science provided the technology we need to operate global positioning systems to know exactly where we are on the planet, the software to use that information to create maps, and scientists are continually developing sensors that use various bands of light or electromagnetic signals to tell us more and more about the world around us.

    • Photo: Alexander Taylor

      Alexander Taylor answered on 5 May 2016:


      Dr. Dirt is right about the way science and technology have transformed our world.

      On a personal level, science changed the way I think about everything – I use the scientific method all the time in my daily life. I question my beliefs and ideas, and think about what I would see in the world if they were true. If I don’t see the evidence for what I believe, it’s time for a new belief!

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