MODERN TECHNOLOGIES AND CONFLICTS 27.9. 2017 Jakub Drmola History, overview and ethics “WE'VE ARRANGED A GLOBAL CIVILIZATION IN WHICH MOST CRUCIAL ELEMENTS PROFOUNDLY DEPEND ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY. WE HAVE ALSO ARRANGED THINGS SO THAT ALMOST NO ONE UNDERSTANDS SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY. THIS IS A PRESCRIPTION FOR DISASTER. WE MIGHT GET AWAY WITH IT FOR A WHILE, BUT SOONER OR LATER THIS COMBUSTIBLE MIXTURE OF IGNORANCE AND POWER IS GOING TO BLOW UP IN OUR FACES.” ― CARL SAGAN, 1995 LONGTERM TRENDS • -technology frees up people from doing previously necessary work and enables them to do something new instead -new professions and sectors are created, influencing the rest of society -all kinds of conflict (military and social) drive new science -it is never possible to predict all outcomes of research FRITZ HABER -1918 Nobel price for the “Haber-Bosch process” -fixation of atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia (NH3) -currently uses about 1-2% of global energy budget -we produce about 400 million tons of it -pillar of agriculture (fertilizer) -quadruples effectivity -⅔ of produced food -it was a prerequisite of the population boom FRITZ HABER AND THE WAR • -but nitrogen is also used in explosives -and he worked on chemical weapons: -chlorine gas -yperite (mustard gas) -and his work was basis for future development of Zyklon A -(originally used as insecticide) THOMAS MIDGLEY -famous and decorated chemist -1921 invented leaded gasoline (TEL) -1928 invented freons (CFCs) • • DDT Thalidomid NUCLEAR WEAPONS -Ernest Rutherford discovered atomic nucleus (1911) -Germany vs. USA -http://dai.ly/x24gwgc?start=913 - 15:13-20:13 (Feynman) -https://vimeo.com/128088968 - 15:06-21:21 (Bagge + Weizsacker) - -various rationalizations -impact on future? -Hiroshima, Nagasaki -Cold War -energy generation • • http://dai.ly/x24gwgc?start=913 - 15:13-20:13 https://vimeo.com/128088968 - 15:06-21:21 (Weizsacker + Bagge) MEDICINE •intimately connected with wars and human experimentation •Archibald McIndoe (plastic surgery) •Dwight Harken (heart surgery) • • • https://jeremyironsno1fan.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/mcindoe4.jpg?w=460 Image result for shell shock •PTSD/Gulf War Syndrome/Shell Shock • ARTIFICIAL LIMBS •https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_brnKz_2tI • Image result for prosthetic arm ETHICS AND REGULATION OF SCIENCE • -are wars good for science? - -can science be separated from politics and should it? - -who should decide what to research? - -who is or should be responsible for the results? • • •