Science, engineering and technology

The distinction between science, engineering and technology is not always clear. Scienc is the reasoned investigation or study of phenomena, aimed at discovering enduring principles among elements of the phenomenal world by employing formal techniques such as the scientific method.Technologies are not usually exclusively products of science, because they have to satisfy requirements such as utility, usability and safety.
Engineering is the goal-oriented process of designing and making tools and systems to exploit natural phenomena for practical human means, often (but not always) using results and techniques from science. The development of technology may draw upon many fields of knowledge, including scientific, engineering, mathematical, linguistic, and historical knowledge, to achieve some practical result.
Technology is often a consequence of science and engineering — although technology as a human activity precedes the two fields. For example, science might study the flow of electrons in electrical conductors, by using already-existing tools and knowledge. This new-found knowledge may then be used by engineers to create new tools and machines, such as semiconductors, computers, and other forms of advanced technology. In this sense, scientists and engineers may both be considered technologists; the three fields are often considered as one for the purposes of research and reference.
The exact relations between science and technology in particular have been debated by scientists, historians, and policymakers in the late 20th century, in part because the debate can inform the funding of basic and applied science. In immediate wake of World War II, for example, in the United States it was widely considered that technology was simply "applied science" and that to fund basic science was to reap technological results in due time. An articulation of this philosophy could be found explicitly in Vannevar Bush's treatise on postwar science policy, Science—The Endless Frontier: "New products, new industries, and more jobs require continuous additions to knowledge of the laws of nature... This essential new knowledge can be obtained only through basic scientific research." In the late-1960s, however, this view came under direct attack, leading towards initiatives to fund science for specific tasks (initiatives resisted by the scientific community). The issue remains contentious—though most analysts resist the model that technology simply is a result of scientific research.

Technology

Technology deals with human as well as other animal species' usage and knowledge of tools and crafts, and how it affects a species' ability to control and adapt to its natural environment. The word technology comes from the Greek technología (τεχνολογία) — téchnē , 'craft' and -logía(-λογία), the study of something, or the branch of knowledge of a discipline.A strict definition is elusive; technology can be material objects of use to humanity, such as clothing, but can also encompass broader themes, including systems, methods of organization, and techniques. The term can either be applied generally or to specific areas: examples include "construction technology", "medical technology", or "state-of-the-art technology".
The human species' use of technology began with the conversion of natural resources into simple tools. The prehistorical discovery of the ability to control fire increased the available sources of food and the invention of the wheel helped humans in travelling in and controlling their environment. Recent technological developments, including the printing press, the telephone, and the Internet, have lessened physical barriers to communication and allowed humans to interact freely on a global scale. However, not all technology has been used for peaceful purposes; the development of weapons of ever-increasing destructive power has progressed throughout history, from clubs to nuclear weapons.
Technology has affected society and its surroundings in a number of ways. In many societies, technology has helped develop more advanced economies (including today's global economy) and has allowed the rise of a leisure class. Many technological processes produce unwanted by-products, known as pollution, and deplete natural resources, to the detriment of the Earth and its environment. Various implementations of technology influence the values of a society and new technology often raises new ethical questions. Examples include the rise of the notion of efficiency in terms of human productivity, a term originally applied only to machines, and the challenge of traditional norms.
Philosophical debates have arisen over the present and future use of technology in society, with disagreements over whether technology improves the human condition or worsens it. Neo-Luddism, anarcho-primitivism, and similar movements criticise the pervasiveness of technology in the modern world, opining that it harms the environment and alienates people; proponents of ideologies such as transhumanism and techno-progressivism view continued technological progress as beneficial to society and the human condition. Indeed, until recently, it was believed that the development of technology was restricted only to human beings, but recent scientific studies indicate that other primates and certain dolphin communities have developed simple tools and learned to pass their knowledge to other generations.

Biomimicry

Biomimicry (from bios, meaning life, and mimesis, meaning to imitate) is the examination of nature, its models, systems, processes, and elements to emulate or take inspiration from in order to solve human problems sustainably. Scientific and engineering literature often uses the term Biomimetics for the process of understanding and applying biological principles to human designs.[citation needed] This includes biomaterials, biomechanics, biological systems composed of individuals of one species (e.g., schools, herds and swarms), or multispecies ensembles. In simple terms, it is when scientists make a machine that mimics what an organism does.
Biomimicry is considered a relatively new science, popularized by Janine Benyus' Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature
Researchers, for example, learn from and emulate termites' ability to maintain virtually constant temperature and humidity in their Sub-Saharan Africa homes despite an outside temperature that varies from 3 °C to 42 °C (35 °F to 104 °F). Project TERMES (Termite Emulation of Regulatory Mound Environments by Simulation) scanned a termite mound and created 3-D images of the mound structure, which revealed construction that may ultimately influence human building design. The Eastgate Centre, a mid-rise office complex in Harare, Zimbabwe, (highlighted in this Biomimicry Institute case-study) stays cool without air conditioning and uses only 10% of the energy of a conventional building its size.
Modeling echolocation in bats in darkness has led to a cane for the visually impaired. Research at the University of Leeds, in the United Kingdom, led to the UltraCane, a product formerly manufactured, marketed and sold by Sound Foresight Ltd.
Janine Benyus, a scientist and author, refers in her books to spiders that create web silk as strong as the Kevlar used in bulletproof vests. Engineers could use such a material—if it had a long enough rate of decay—for parachute lines , suspension bridge cables, artificial ligaments for medicine, and many other purposes.
Other research has proposed adhesive glue from mussels, solar cells made like leaves, bionic cars inspired by the boxfish, fabric that emulates shark skin, harvesting water from fog like a beetle, and more. Nature’s 100 Best is a compilation of the top hundred different innovations of animals, plants, and other organisms that have been researched and studied by the Biomimicry Institute.
A display technology based on the reflective properties of certain morpho butterflies was commercialized by Qualcomm in 2007. The technology uses Interferometric Modulation to reflect light so only the desired color is visible to the eye in each individual pixel of the display.
Biomimicry is an innovation method that seeks sustainable solutions by emulating nature's time-tested patterns and strategies, e.g., a solar cell inspired by a leaf. The goal is to create products, processes, and policies---new ways of living---that are well-adapted to life on earth over the long haul. In 2009, Northwestern University's Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art presented a film series based on the idea of Biomimicry. The eponymous series addressed issues of advanced cybernetic technology and how its integration subverts conceptions of humanity and consciousness, forcing society to question the division between nature and creation.

10 Examples of Agricultural Biotechnology

Biotechnology is often considered synonymous with the biomedical research, but there are many other industries which take advantage of biotech methods for studying, cloning and altering genes. We have become accustomed to the idea of enzymes in our everyday lives and many people are familiar with the controversies surrounding the use of GMOs in our foods. The agricultural industry is at the center of that debate, but since the days of George Washington Carver, agricultural biotech has been producing countless new products that have the potential to change our lives for the better.
1. VaccinesOral vaccines have been in the works for many years as a possible solution to the spread of disease in underdeveloped countries, where costs are prohibitive to widespread vaccination. Genetically engineered crops, usually fruits or vegetables, designed to carry antigenic proteins from infectious pathogens, that will trigger an immune response when injested. An example of this is a patient-specific vaccine for treating cancer. An anti-lymphoma vaccine has been made using tobacco plants carrying RNA from cloned malignant B-cells. The resulting protein is then used to vaccinate the patient and boost their immune system against the cancer. Tailor-made vaccines for cancer treatment have shown considerable promise in preliminary studies.
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2. AntibioticsPlants are used to produce antibiotics for both human and animal use. Expressing antibiotic proteins in livestock feed, fed directly to animals, is less costly than traditional antibiotic production, but this practice raises many bioethics issues, because the result is widespread, possibly unneccessary use of antibiotics which may promote growth of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains. Several advantages to using plants to produce antibiotics for humans are reduced costs due to the larger amount of product that can be produced from plants versus a fermentation unit, ease of purification, and reduced risk of contamination compared to that of using mammalian cells and culture media.
3. FlowersThere is more to agricultural biotechnology than just fighting disease or improving food quality. There are some purely aesthetic applications and an example of this is the use of gene identification and transfer techniques to improve the color, smell, size and other features of flowers. Likewise, biotech has been used to make improvements to other common ornamental plants, in particular, shrubs and trees. Some of these changes are similar to those made to crops, such as enhancing cold resistance of a breed of tropical plant, so it can be grown in northern gardens.
4. BiofuelsThe agricultural industry plays a large role in the biofuels industry, providing the feedstocks for fermentation and refining of bio-oil, bio-diesel and bio-ethanol. Genetic engineering and enzyme optimization techniques are being used to develop better quality feedstocks for more efficient conversion and higher BTU outputs of the resulting fuel products. High-yielding, energy-dense crops can minimize relative costs associated with harvesting and transportation (per unit of energy derived), resulting in higher value fuel products.
5. Plant and Animal BreedingEnhancing plant and animal traits by traditional methods like cross-pollination, grafting, and cross-breeding is time-consuming. Biotech advances allow for specific changes to be made quickly, on a molecular level through over-expression or deletion of genes, or the introduction of foreign genes. The latter is possible using gene expression control mechanisms such as specific gene promoters and transcription factors. Methods like marker-assisted selection improve the efficiency of "directed" animal breeding, without the controversy normally associated with GMOs. Gene cloning methods must also address species differences in the genetic code, the presence or absence of introns and post-translational modifications such as methylation.
6. Pest Resistant CropsFor years, the microbe Bacillus thuringiensis, which produces a protein toxic to insects, in particular the European corn borer, was used to dust crops. To eliminate the need for dusting, scientists first developed transgenic corn expressing Bt protein, followed by Bt potato and cotton. Bt protein is not toxic to humans, and transgenic crops make it easier for farmers to avoid costly infestations. In 1999 controversy emerged over Bt corn because of a study that suggested the pollen migrated onto milkweed where it killed monarch larvae that ate it. Subsequent studies demonstrated the risk to the larvae was very small and, in recent years, the controversy over Bt corn has switched focus, to the topic of emerging insect resistance.
7. Pesticide-Resistant CropsNot to be confused with pest-resistance, these plants are tolerant of pesticides, allowing farmers to selectively kill surrounding weeds without harming their crop. The most famous example of this is the Roundup-Ready technology, developed by Monsanto. First introduced in 1998 as GM soybeans, Roundup-Ready plants are unaffected by the herbicide glyphosate, which can be applied in copious quantities to eliminate any other plants in the field. The benefits to this are savings in time and costs associated with conventional tillage to reduce weeds, or multiple applications of different types of herbicides to selectively eliminate specific species of weeds. The possible drawbacks include all the controversial arguments against GMOs.
8. Nutrient SupplementationIn an effort to improve human health, particularly in underdeveloped countries, scientists are creating genetically altered foods that contain nutrients known to help fight disease or malnourishment. An example of this is Golden Rice, which contains beta-carotene, the precursor for Vitamin A production in our bodies. People who eat the rice produce more Vitamin A, an essential nutrient lacking in the diets of the poor in Asian countries. Three genes, two from daffodils and one from a bacterium, capable of catalyzing four biochemical reactions, were cloned into rice to make it "golden". The name comes from the color of the transgenic grain due to overexpression of beta-carotene, which gives carrots their orange color.
9. Abiotic Stress ResistanceLess than 20% of the earth is arable land but some crops have been genetically altered to make them more tolerant of conditions like salinity, cold and drought. The discovery of genes in plants responsible for sodium uptake has lead to development of knock-out plants able to grow in high salt environments. Up- or down-regulation of transcription is generally the method used to alter drought-tolerance in plants. Corn and rapeseed plants, able to thrive under drought conditions, are in their fourth year of field trials in California and Colorado, and it is anticipated that they'll reach the market in 4-5 years.
10. Industrial Strength FibersSpider silk is the strongest fiber known to man, stronger than kevlar (used to make bullet-proof vests), with a higher tensile strength than steel. In August 2000, Canadian company Nexia announced development of transgenic goats that produced spider silk proteins in their milk. While this solved the problem of mass-producing the proteins, the program was shelved when scientists couldn't figure out how to spin them into fibers like spiders do. By 2005, the goats were up for sale to anyone who would take them. While it seems the spider silk idea has been put on the shelf for the time-being, it is a technology that is sure to appear again in the future, once more information is gathered on how the silks are woven.

Climate change

Agriculture
Impact of global climate changes on agriculture
According to a UN climate report, the glaciers that are the principal dry-season water sources of Asia's biggest rivers - Ganges, Indus, Brahmaputra, Yangtze, Mekong, Salween and Yellow - could disappear by 2035 as temperatures rise.Approximately 2.4 billion people live of the Himalayan rivers. India, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar could experience floods followed by severe droughts in coming decades,In India alone, the Ganges provides water for drinking and farming for more than 500 million people.The west coast of North America, which gets much of its water from glaciers in mountain ranges such as the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada, also would be affected.Glaciers aren't the only worry that the developing nations have, sea level is also reported to rise as climate changes progresses, reducing the amount of land available for agriculture.In other parts of the world a big effect will be low yields of grain according to the World Food Trade Model, specifically in the low latitude regions where much of the developing world is located. From this the price of grain will rise, along with the developing nations trying to grow the grain. Due to this, every 2-2.5% price hike will increase the number of hungry people 1%.And low crop yields is just one of the problem facing farmers in the low latitudes and tropical regions. The timing and length of the growing seasons, when farmers plant their crops, are going to be changing dramatically, per the USDA, due to unknown changes in soil temperature and moisture conditions.
Children
On 2008-04-29, a UNICEF UK report found that the world’s poorest and most vulnerable children are being hit the hardest by the impact of climate change. The report, “Our Climate, Our Children, Our Responsibility: The Implications of Climate Change for the World’s Children,” says access to clean water and food supplies will become more difficult, particularly in Africa and Asia.

Wheat stem rust

Stripe Rust on a wheat stem

Watch the DIVERSEEDS short films on ways to fight wheat rust using crop wild relatives to improve resistance in modern varieties.
An epidemic of stem rust on wheat caused by race Ug99 is currently spreading across Africa and into Asia and is causing major concern. A virulent wheat disease could destroy most of the world’s main wheat crops, leaving millions to starve. The fungus has spread from Africa to Iran, and may already be in Pakistan.
The genetic diversity of the crop wild relatives of wheat can be used to improve modern varieties to be more resistant to rust. In their centers of origin wild wheat plants are screened for resistance to rust, then their genetic information is analysed and finally wild plants and modern varietes are crossed through means of modern plant breeding in order to transfer the resistance genes from the wild plants to the modern varieties.