FunThe technological discoveries that changed the world

The technological discoveries that changed the world

The current present that we know, always surrounded by high technology, is the result of incredible technological innovations developed in the last century: computers, mobile phones and the Internet , but also airplanes and antibiotics that are counteracted by atomic bombs and automatic weapons. These are the technological discoveries that changed the world.

The technological discoveries that changed the world

Let us list one by one, some of the technological inventions that changed the course of history , including some of the most current that have ended up changing our lives forever.

Planes

The first warplane took to the skies in World War I and was then used by some companies as a mail delivery and passenger transport service since 1930. The first jet aircraft, on the other hand, made their appearance towards the end of the Second World War, while the era of passenger transport officially began in 1952. A true revolution: crossing the world in a single day. Passenger ships, in vogue up to that time, are “downgraded” to tourist routes and large ocean liners fall out of favor.

Vaccines and antibiotics

Many remedies for some deadly infectious diseases were developed in the 19th century , but it took decades, if not centuries, before vaccines and antibiotics were produced in sufficient quantity to fight and eliminate the last responsible virus. Smallpox alone, for example, killed about a third of its victims until it was eradicated in the late 1970s.

Atomic bomb

Despite its misfortune, it is also an innovation and the most destructive of all . First used in WWII, its specter fueled the Cold War and is still talked about today. The conflicts were fought with threats and nuclear propaganda instead of troops on the ground. The first atomic bomb gave the green light to nuclear research that produced nuclear power plants. A source of energy that, in recent years, does not enjoy the sympathy of public opinion. After Chernobyl, the most recent Japanese disaster in Fukushima, it is changing the world’s energy prospects, hopefully with a shift towards more environmentally friendly technologies and a greater focus on saving energy.

Assault rifles

If the atomic bomb has ushered us into a new era of warfare, the AK-47 machine gun, better known as the Kalashnikov, also deserves credit for changing the rules on the battlefield (and beyond) . Designed in 1947 by the Red Army of the former Soviet Union, the Kalashnikov is the progenitor of a long series of new-concept weapons : powerful, innovative, rugged, but at the same time relatively inexpensive to produce. The World Bank estimates that, in 2007, there were 75 million in circulation. How much does it cost? In Africa, getting a gun like this costs an average of $ 267.

Chip and circuits

Chips had been known since 1860 , but it was only in the early 1940s that researchers gradually began to acquire the knowledge necessary to exploit them commercially. The size of chips and semiconductors has been drastically reduced over the years and their power has increased exponentially to the point of becoming the heart of computers, smartphones, mp3 players and all the high-tech devices circulating today. day.

Computers and derivatives

It is probably the technological innovation that has changed our lives the most, at least so far. From the gigantic mainframes (or mainframes) of the 1970s and early 1980s, we moved on to personal computers and then laptops and finally tablets of the last few years. Manufacturers continue to increase their power and graphics performance by constantly improving their portability. An unprecedented success. If 125 million computers were sold in 2001, in 2010 it reached 350 million.

World Wide Web

The rise of computers and “derivatives” is also due, and above all, to the Internet. The WWW was born out of the need to create a practical system to connect the computers of scientists and engineers to exchange information faster and ended up absorbing the entire world in its infinite ramifications. If once the Internet was used primarily for the rapid exchange of files and documents, it has now become a “parallel reality” for many of us allowing us to communicate, socialize, shop and learn all over the world at once.

Smartphones and tablets

If computers, in all their forms, are our present, mobile phones are our present and future . It seems like a century has passed since the first models of the 80s, as big as briefcases, very expensive and with dizzying fees. Mobile technology is constantly evolving and cellular networks continue to expand to evolve offering ever-increasing performance in terms of speed and services. 4G has already given way to 5G, and mobile phones have become, in practice, small laptops constantly connected to the web.

Digital media

Capturing the moment is now within everyone’s reach, even with a simple mobile phone, just like listening to mp3s. We can share our memories and our favorite music with a few clicks and the next frontier is the »cloud« that will allow us to live in a 360-degree multimedia dimension, anytime, anywhere.

E-books

At this point, goodbye also to traditional books. From the first rudimentary digital texts with simple hyperlinks, we have moved on to electronic books that in some countries have surpassed paper books in terms of sales. And e-books, thanks to the arrival of HTML5, will be graphically even more beautiful and interactive. The coup de grace to the traditional publication lies in the arrival of the Apple iPad and its direct followers, that is, Amazon with its Kindles and Kindle Fire.

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