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LASER CUTTER IS AT YOUR DISPOSALTask 6.Read the textto check if your questions are answered. Is technology described in the text a new one? WE HAVE THE SOLUTION! OUR NEW 1500 WATT CNC-CONTROLLED LASER CUTTER IS AT YOUR DISPOSAL The Process Laser technology is not new, but it is only recently that the full benefits have become available to manufacturers.
Taking light and passing it through a series of lenses makes the light source so great that its power density is several million times that of the sun - this laser energy is then used to cut almost any material.
The light is directed down towards a CNC-controlled table making it very easy to produce accurate complicated shapes without distortion, giving burr-free, smooth, and perfectly square edges.
The Materials The laser is suitable for cutting: - All types of steel including stainless and spring steel. - Most non-ferrous metals. - Plastics, wood, fibreglass, and almost any other material you care to mention! - The Capacity - Carbon Steel - up to 13 mm - Stainless Steel-up to 10 mm - Plastics-up to 40 mm Wood - up to 40 mm - Rubber - up to 40 mm - Table movement 1650 mm x 1250 mm - The Advantages - Short lead time - No tooling costs - Low set-up costs - Extremely accurate - Highest quality - Minimal heat affected zones - Design flexibility Task 7. Watch the video “Lasers” and answer the question – how do lasers work?
Task 8.Summarize everything that you have learned about the applications of lasers and laser technologies. Task 9.Prepare a presentation on any application of lasers or laser technology. UNIT 2 INNOVATIONS
LESSON 1 BEST AND WORST INNOVATIONS
Task 1. Answer the following questions.
1. What is innovation? How do you understand this word? 2. What role do innovations play in our life? Think of some innovations that has had the greatest influence on our lives.
Task 2. Read this text about the best and worst innovations.
BIKES ARE BEST AND GM FOOD THE WORST, SAY RADIO 4 LISTENERS
Since the beginning of April BBC Radio 4's You And Yours has been asking listeners to vote for the most significant technological innovation since 1800 and what they would most like to disinvent. The answers, revealed in tomorrow's programme (Thursday 5 May, 12.04 pm) are the bicycle and GM foods. The washing machine emerged as listeners' favourite technological invention for the home.
The humble bike beat such technological innovations as electro-magnetic induction ring (which gave us the means to harness electricity), the internal combustion engine and the germ theory of infection (which gave rise to vaccination as we know it today).
The survey was launched on Friday 1 April on Radio 4's flagship consumer affairs programme, taking up the theme of this year's Reith Lectures: The Triumph Of Technology, given by Lord Alec Broers. Experts from the field of science and technology as well as listeners were asked for their nominations.
The nominations included: ü Bicycle ü Communications satellite ü Computer ü Electro-magnetic induction ring ü Germ theory of infection ü Internal Combustion engine ü Internet ü Nuclear power ü Transistor Radio
Visitors to the You and Yours website were also asked to complete an online survey, designed to investigate attitudes towards technology.
Participants were asked which innovation they'd most like to disinvent (GM foods came top with 26% of the vote, followed by nuclear power at 19%).
The piece of technology that most people would like to see invented is an AIDs vaccine (35%) with interplanetary commuter transport lagging behind at 15%.
When it came to voting for a technological innovation that was of most use in the home, 34% of listeners voted for the washing machine, with central heating coming second with 25% of the vote.
Looking ahead to the regulation of technological advancement, 43% said it should be down to independent international bodies.
Task 3. Do you agree with the respondents? Why? Why not? Give your reasons.
Task 4. In no more than 12-15 sentences, summarize the information you learnt from the text.
Task 5. Below you can find the description of some very successful recent inventions, which are currently part of our daily lives. Match the correct name of the invention with its corresponding description.
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Answers:
Task 6.Watch the video “2008 Best inventions” and answer the question – which invention do you think is the best and why?
Task 7. Work with you partner or in small groups of 3-4 people. Discuss the following questions. 1. What technology would you most like to see invented? 2. What technology would you most like to see disinvented? 3. What technological innovation is of most practical use in your home? 4. Which technological change has given the greatest benefit to society? 5. If you could only take one piece of technology to your Desert Island, what would it be? 6. Who should regulate the development of new technology?
Task 8. Present the results of your discussion to the class.
LESSON 2 BIZARRE INVENTIONS Task 1. Answer the following question – what does the word ‘bizarre’ mean? Consult a dictionary if necessary. Task 2. Work with your partner. Try to think of some really bizarre inventions you have ever heard of. You have about 5-8 minutes to prepare. Then present your ideas to the class.
Task 3. In fact, there are many “crazy” scientists who sometimes come up with bizarre inventions. You can find some of those below. Do you think they are strange?
Task 4. Match the inventions with their description / utility.
Task 5. Check your knowledge of the following words and word combinations.
Task 6.Use these words and word combinations in your own sentences. Read some of your sentences to your partner and ask him to translate them. Task 7. Read the text “Bizarre inventions”.
BIZARRE INVENTIONS Sadie Nine meets a man who has become a world authority on strange devices and gadgets... Maurice Collins lives in a slightly surreal world. He’s the authority on strange devices, in particular, antique gadgets. He's even written two books about the items that were designed to make life a little easier, for people living over a hundred or more years ago.
“I’ve just bought this item; it’s a match holder and striker, a cigar cutter and also a bell!” Maurice explains as he persuades Sadie to demonstrate how it works.
Maurice has been collecting these strange items for more than thirty years.
Maurice is intrigued by the look of the items he collects. He likes objects that look very sculptural, are mechanical and also a little bit weird. He’s not even sure what some items are, so spends his time doing research at the Patent Office to try to identify them. Sometimes he has bought things that turn out to be totally different to what he thought they were.
Maurice’s collection is made up of time saving devices. “The pride of my collection is a teasmaid. To work it you set the alarm. The alarm goes off - it pushes a lever, which pushes a lever, which pushes another lever - causing a match to strike some sandpaper which then lights the heater and then boils the water. When it’s boiled, it pours into the teapot..!”
He has hundreds of contraptions in his north London home, which make it feel a bit like an antique parlour.
Many of his best items have now been lent out to museums. However not all of Maurice’s prized possessions are completely eccentric. Bletchley Park Museum in Milton Keynes boasts some of his more practical gadgets such as a mangle and one of the first ever food processors.
But collectors who have it all still want more; something very, very rare and very, very strange. Maurice talks of a ‘machine that tattooed deserters in 1810, with the letter ‘D’ on their forehead’ that he would like to own. Quite by surprise he hears news that suggests this machine has shown up…somewhere in Portobello Market.
Maurice could easily be way-laid by lots of curious items and strange knick knacks that Portobello market is famous for, but there is still no sign of the rare ‘Deserter Tattooing’ machine….until he suddenly gets a tip off. A specialist who deals in antique scientific instruments says he’s got one of them. Maurice tracks the machine down and sees a demonstration on how it works. It costs £2,800.So, for now, Maurice says: “I think I’ll have to start saving up my pennies…”
The images in this feature are taken from Maurice Collins' books Ingenious Gadgets and Eccentric Contraptions.
Task 8. Answer the questions.
1. Why does Maurice Collins live in a slightly surreal world? What is so peculiar about his hobby? 2. How long has Maurice been collecting his strange gadgets? 3. What is Maurice intrigued by? 4. What is the pride of his collection? 5. Are all of Maurice’s possessions completely eccentric? 6. What do you personally think about Maurice’s hobby? Would you also like to possess some of those strange things? Do you have any eccentric things at home? If you do, what are they?
Task 9. Find information in the text where it is said about: - the antique lemonade bottle - the look of Maurice’s items - the teasmaid
Task 10. Write a summary of the text. In no more than 12 sentences, express the main idea and the general content of the text.
ADDITIONAL TASKS.
Task 1a. Work with a partner to read about some high-tech innovations. Complete the chart for your innovations.
Task 2a. Tell your partner about your texts. Complete all the parts of the chart.
STUDENT A
STUDENT B
LESSON 3 INVENTORS
Task 1. Answer the question. Can you name an inventor? What did he/she invent?
Task 2. Look at the photos of famous inventors. Work with a partner to discuss the following.
1. What do you know about the people in the photos on this page? 2. What did they invent?
Task 3. Watch the video “X-rays” and read the text “Who invented the X-ray?’ and answer the questions.
1. When were X-rays invented? 2. How does an X-ray work? 3. What does the X-Ray machine consist of? 4. What does an X-ray image show? 5. Why are X-rays important? WHO INVENTED THE X-RAY?
Have you ever had an X-ray taken? X-rays are used to analyze problems with bones, teeth and organs in the human body; to detect cracks in metal in industry; and even at airports for luggage inspection. Yet, despite their versatility, the invention of the X-ray wasn't intentional. The scientific and medical community will forever be indebted to an accidental discovery made by German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen in 1895.
While experimenting with electrical currents through glass cathode-ray tubes, Röntgen discovered that a piece of barium platinocyanide glowed even though the tube was encased in thick black cardboard and was across the room. He theorized that some kind of radiation must be traveling in the space. Röntgen didn't fully understand his discovery so he dubbed it X-radiation for its unexplained nature.
To test his newfound theory, Röntgen enlisted the help of his wife for his first X-ray photos and captured images of the bones in her hand and her wedding ring in what would become known as the first röntgenogram. He discovered that when emitted in complete darkness, X-rays passed through objects of varying density, rendering the flesh and muscle of his wife's hand mostly transparent. The denser bones and the ring left behind a shadow on a special photographic plate covered in barium platinocyanide. The term X-radiation or X-ray stuck although it is still sometimes referred to as the Röntgen ray in German-speaking countries.
Röntgen's discovery garnered much attention in the scientific community and with the public. He gave his first public lecture on X-rays in January 1896 and showed the rays' ability to photograph the bones within living flesh. A few weeks later in Canada, an X-ray was used to find a bullet in a patient's leg.
Honorary degrees, medals, streets named in his honor and memberships to academic societies all followed. The recognition peaked with the awarding of the first Nobel Prize for physics in 1901. Röntgen deliberately didn't patent his discovery, feeling that scientific advances belonged to the world and should not be for profit.
Task 4. Watch the video “Thomas Edison Biography” and make up 3 questions to the listening text. Ask your partner to answer them.
Task 5. Complete the table with appropriate forms of words.
Task 6. Discuss the following statements.
1. There's a saying that genius is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration. What does that saying mean, and do you agree with it? Why or why not? 2. What can an inventor do to make it easier for him or her to come up with ideas? 3. Inventors often patent their inventions. What does it mean to patent an invention? In what way does patenting protect an inventor?
Task 7. Read the text and decide if the following statements are true or false.
1. You can potentially patent any idea that is novel, nonobvious, and useful. 2. You can patent a species of mouse that you find running around your laboratory. 3. You cannot patent a genetically engineered mouse that you designed for use in cancer research 4. You cannot patent a combination of bacteria with beneficial properties if that combination occurs somewhere in nature. 5. You can patent a species of bacteria that you genetically alter to solve a common problem if that form does not occur naturally. 6. You can patent computer software. PATENT PROTECTION Patents are the most complicated type of intellectual property, as well as the most restrictive. To patent an invention, you have to meet a number of requirements. First of all, the invention must be sufficiently novel. That is, it must be substantially unlike anything that is already patented, has already been on the market or has been written about in a publication. In fact, you can't even patent your own invention if it has been on the market or discussed in publications for more than a year.
The vast majority of inventions are actually improvements on existing technology, not wholly new items. The camcorder, for example, is essentially a combination of a video camera and a tape recorder, but it is a unique idea to combine them into one unit. It was so innovative, in fact, that when Jerome Lemelson first submitted the idea to the patent office in 1977, it was rejected as an absurd notion. When the invention was eventually patented, it launched a flood of portable video machines. If you search for the term "camcorder" in the U.S. Patent Office's database, you will find more than a thousand separate patents. A modern camcorder is a combination of hundreds of patented inventions.
Adaptations of earlier inventions can be patented as long as they are nonobvious, meaning that a person of standard skill in the area of study wouldn't automatically come up with the same idea upon examining the existing invention. For example, you can't patent the concept of making a toaster that can handle more pieces of bread at once, because that is only taking an existing invention and making it bigger. For an invention to be patented, it must be innovative to the point that it wouldn't be obvious to others.
Another condition for patenting something is that the invention is "useful." Generally speaking, this means that the invention serves some purpose and that it actually works. You couldn't patent a random configuration of gears, for example, if it didn't do anything in particular. You also wouldn't be able to patent a time machine if you couldn't construct a working model. Unproven ideas generally fall into the realm of science fiction, and so are protected only by copyright law. The "useful" clause may also be interpreted as a prohibition against inventions that can only be used for illegal and/or immoral practices. WHAT YOU CAN PATENT In patent law, the term "invention" is defined loosely so that it can encompass a wide variety of objects. Obviously, if patents have to apply to things that don't exist yet, then the legal language must be fairly vague. In addition to standard technological machines and machine advancements, you can also patent certain computer programs, industrial processes and unique designs (such as tire or shoe-tread patterns). While none of the elements in these creations are new, the inventor may have combined them in a unique and innovative way. In the language of patent law, this constitutes an invention.
Some sorts of ideas are considered outside the realm of patents. No matter how innovative and beneficial they may be, certain notions are automatically public property the minute they are uncovered. The most prevalent examples of this are discoveries in the natural world. Scientists cannot patent laws of the universe, even though defining those laws may revolutionize a particular industry or change how we live. Einstein's Law of Relativity, for example, revolutionized the world of physics and will be forever linked with the man who devised it, but it has never been owned by anybody. This principle existed long before humans did, so, logically, it cannot be any person's intellectual property.
Scientists cannot patent a newly discovered plant or animal, either, though they may be able to patent a new plant or animal that was produced through genetic engineering. This is similar to the patenting of processes and computer programs: a genetic engineer didn't create any of the parts, but the combination of these parts may be novel and nonobvious, and therefore patentable.
Task 8.Prepare a presentation on any inventors.
LESSON 4 ROBOTS - THE FUTURE IS NOW
Task 1. Make five predictions about life in 2030, one for each of the following areas: personal life, life of the university, life of the nation, and two other topics of interest to you.
Task 2. Answer the questions.
1. What is a robot, and how do people use them today? 2. How might we interact with robots in the future?
Task 3. Watch this video showing a team of students designing, building and programming a robot out of Legos for a robotics competition and answer the questions.
1. What challenges must the team’s robot meet? 2. Why does the team need to program the robot? 3. What are some functions the team programmed the robot to do? 4. What are the roles of the various sensors in the robot? 5. What kinds of directions can they program? 6. What kind of information did they need to find out? 7. How did the students respond to setbacks? 8. How did they divide and share the work? 9. What did they succeed in being able to do at the competition? 10. What else did you notice as you watched?
Task 4.
· Work in groups. Think of challenges in your own day-to-day life where a robot could be helpful, or think of workplaces and industrial settings that could benefit from robots. · Brainstorm a design for a robot to tackle this challenge, and prepare to “pitch” your idea to a team of “engineers,” who will vote on which project will receive financing to develop it for commercial or personal use. · Your pitch should include a product name and logo, information about the challenge they’ve identified, sketches and descriptions of their robot, and the solution your robot offers. · Consider the following in designing your robots:
1. What problem or challenge does the robot solve? 2. What are some of the functions you will program your robot to carry out? 3. What materials will it be made out of? Why? 4. How will the robot sense its surroundings? 5. How will it move and respond to the environment? 6. How or why is a robot better equipped to handle this challenge than a human? 7. What specific functions will the robot carry out? What components will the robot include that help it carry out these tasks? 8. What will the robot look like? Will it look humanlike? Why or why not? 9. How will the robot’s appearance influence how people interact with it? 10. What limitations does the robot have?
· Sketch your designs and label them to indicate functionality, materials, interactivity and so on. · Try to sell your idea to an “agency” that funds research and development in science and technology. · The “engineers” might be played by one person from each group. · Present your ideas to the class, and then vote on the best design.
ADDITIONAL TASK.
Task 1a. Watch the video “Robots - The Future is Now” and speak about robot applications.
Task 2. Discuss.
1. What are the advantages of creating a walking robot that is able to maneuver around the surface of the earth like human beings and other creatures that have legs? Make a list of situations for which walking robots would be better suited than wheeled vehicles. 2. In movies, on television, and in books, robots are often (though not always) portrayed as the enemies of humankind. Why do you think science fiction writers depict robots as frightening? What qualities make robots scary to humans? 3. Robots—from miniature earthbound types to those launched into Earth orbit—can be used by our neighbors, the military, local police forces, and our bosses to monitor every movement we make. In a free society that values privacy, there may be a need to put limits on the use of such surveillance-type robots. Take an inventory of the surveillance technology that is already available in your community and school. What rules do you think should be put into place for the acceptable use of each of these technologies? 4. Artificial limbs may soon be connected directly to the nervous system so that the brain can command them to walk, grasp, wave hello, or even write a novel. Soon we may even be able to send commands to robots by mental telepathy. Will the next step be the creation of a robot brain that can think, learn, and make decisions without human control? Is this a good idea? What technological challenges stand in the way of this happening? Why do so many people think that this will never and should never happen? 5. It’s probably obvious why it would be better to use a robot than a human to perform certain functions—like diffusing a bomb, for instance, or fighting in a war. On the other hand, would you want a robot pitcher on your favorite baseball team? A robot teacher in your classroom? A robot psychiatrist or president? A robot parent? A robot best friend? What qualities do humans have that you think could never be replaced by robots? Why?
LESSON 5 PRACTICAL INNOVATIONS
Task 1. Work with a partner. Discuss some innovations in the sphere of architecture and construction. What environmentally friendly building technologies and materials can you think of? Use the Internet if necessary to help you find information.
Task 2. Look through the text ‘Cork floors, old pickle barrels’. Check the meaning of the words in italic. Use a dictionary if necessary.
Task 3. Read the text ‘Cork floors, old pickle barrels’.
CORK FLOORS, OLD PICKLE BARRELS
When the Chesapeake Bay Foundation moves into its new headquarters later this year, employees will use flushless toilets and wash their hands in unheated rainwater.
A system of computerized red and green lights will tell them when, in the interest of energy efficiency, whether they should open or close windows. Photo sensors will turn off the lights when there is enough natural light shining through the glass walls looking out over the Chesapeake Bay.
Rain that runs off the parking lot will be routed through two filtering systems and wetlands before entering the bay, at which time it is supposed to be pure enough to drink.
Those are just a few of the features incorporated in what foundation officials think will be one of the "greenest" office buildings ever built.
Chuck Foster, director of fleets and facilities for the foundation, said environmental criteria guided every decision, from the selection of building materials and office furniture, to landscaping, to the height of outdoor lighting, which is low to reduce the impact on birds at night.
"Every building material was looked at" with environmental questions in mind, Foster said. What was the recyclable content? How long was the life cycle? How far would materials be transported from the manufacturing site to the construction site? How much packing material would be used?
And, looking far into the future, the final question: "When it dies, can it be made into something useful again?" Foster said.
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation, an environmental group that works to restore the health of the bay, has offices scattered in several locations around Annapolis. It spent several years looking for a site for a new headquarters.
It settled on a 33-acre (13-hectare) tract on the Chesapeake Bay in the community of Bay Ridge at the mouth of the Severn River, a few miles from downtown Annapolis. A $7.5 million gift from Philip Merrill, publisher of Washingtonian Magazine, The (Annapolis) Capital and four other newspapers, provided the major funding for the headquarters.
Tom Eichbaum, partner in Smith Group Architects, which designed the building, said residential development of the property would have had a more negative impact on the environment than its use by the bay foundation.
Eichbaum said it was fun to design what he called "this wonderful puzzle that is slowly emerging." One example of an environmentally friendly design element: using cork flooring throughout most of the building instead of carpeting, even though carpeting would have cost less. Cork is quiet, is a warm color and does not give off harmful gases as does some carpet. Plus, it is a renewable resource, Eichbaum said.
"You harvest cork and the tree remains alive. You're not destroying a forest," he said. The designers used wood from old pickle barrels salvaged by Foster to build sun screens that will reduce heat from the summer sun but allow sun to help heat the building in winter.
They used galvanized siding for the exterior walls. Foster said the siding has a high recyclable content, requires little maintenance, is manufactured within 300 miles (500 kilometers) of the site and "is flat and required minimal packaging."
Energy use got a lot of attention. About one-third of the energy will come from renewable sources, including solar panels to heat water for showers and laundry and geothermal heat pumps operating in 300-foot (90-meter) deep wells to assist in heating and cooling the building.
Foster estimates the building will use only about one-third as much energy from conventional sources as a traditional office building.
Those flushless toilets, with wastes going directly into composting bins, will contribute to large reductions in water use. Foster estimates the building will use only about 10 percent as much water from wells or public water supplies as a conventional building.
All this environmental concern does not come cheap. The costs will be around $200 a square foot, considerably more expensive than a standard building but "not too far out of line with a very high-end building," Foster said. He estimates efforts to make the building as green as possible added about $50 a square foot to the $7.5 million project.
There will be some long-term savings from reduced energy use and reduced maintenance, but not enough to make up the difference, Foster said.
"Our board wanted us to set an example, to show people what can be done," Foster said.
Task 4.Answer the following questions.
1. What is so unusual about the new headquarters of the Shakespeare Bay Foundation? 2. On what principle were building materials chosen? 3. Where is the new building located? 4. What is an example of environmentally friendly design element? 5. What are the benefits of using cork flooring instead of carpeting? 6. What materials did designers use for the exterior walls of the building? 7. How much energy will come from renewable sources? 8. What are these renewable sources? 9. What devices can assist in heating and cooling the building? 10. Is this environmental concern cheap?
Task 5. Write a summary of the text. In no more than 10-12 sentences, express the main idea and the general content of the text.
Task 6. Express your own opinion of the text. ACTIVITY. Introduction. Our world is constantly changing and developing. New ideas, methods and technologies are emerging all the time and are so numerous that it is hardly possible to count them. And something that was modern a year ago may now seem not quite up-to-date and even old-fashioned. Innovations are extremely diverse and are present in all spheres of our life. Some innovations are really very useful and practical; some are more for fun and pleasure. Why not try and look for some interesting innovations?
Task.
· Work in groups of 3-4 people. You are to find information about three different innovations (preferably in the sphere of engineering, technology or business). While looking for information you are free to use the internet sites given below as well as any other online resources. · Summarize all the information you have found and make a short presentation in front of the class. In your presentation you may speak about all the three innovations you have read about or you are free to concentrate on one particular innovation.
Resources. Definition of innovations: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Innovations http://www.webster.com/dictionary/innovations
Some sites where you can find information: http://www.newscientist.com/ http://www.cnn.com/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/ http://www.sciam.com/
Popular search engines: www.yahoo.com www.google.com www.altavista.com
ADDITIONAL TASKS. Task 1a. Answer the questions.
Task 2a. Choose one of the following assignments and follow the instructions.
A. Find an item used at home, university, or another place you frequent, that is not designed well, and redesign it to make it easier for people to use. (Designs may be presented as drawings or physical mock-ups. Mock-ups may be made from any materials available. They do not necessarily have to work, just so they represent what the real item would look like, either full size or to scale.)
B. Think of a problem that hasn't been solved or a need that hasn't been met, and design an invention to provide a solution or fill that need.
Respond in writing to the following:
1. Define the problem. 2. Give causes for the problem. 3. Describe your solution. 4. Tell why your solution will improve the situation.
Task 3a. Prepare five-minute oral presentations.
UNIT 3 TECHNOLOGY LESSON 1 MODERN TECHNOLOGY
Task 1.Discuss these questions.
Task 2. Watch the video “Modern Technology” and check your answers.
Task 3. Answer the questions.
Task 4. Read the text and complete the table.
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