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Science | History | Geography

The week science fiction became reality

Does progress make us happy? Scientific innovations can make life longer, easier and more convenient. But some say that technological progress does not guarantee happiness. The surgeon injects a needle into the patient's arm, then leaves the room. Nothing seems to happen for hours. But when the patient wakes up, his cancer has been eliminated. This might be the future of medicine. Scientists at Cornell University have invented moveable micro-robots that can be injected into the body and controlled by equally imperceptible lasers for precise, incision-free surgery. It is just one of several astonishing inventions announced in the last few days. In the US, Amazon has revealed a palm scanner, allowing shoppers to pay for products by hovering their hand mid-air. In the UK, trials began for the Hydroflex: a hydrogen-powered train that zooms along the tracks without harmful emissions. And in the Lake District, air ambulance staff have tested a prototype jet suit. Paramedics will glide across hills without touching the ground, reaching the injured at 20 times walking speed. It took homo sapiensThe species to which all modern humans belong. Homo sapiens means "wise man" in Latin.  tens of thousands of years to invent the wheel, and a few thousand more to come up with a humble sheet of paper. But today technology seems to rush forward at an unprecedented pace. "We won't experience 100 years of progress in the 21st century," wrote futuristA person who specialises in making predictions about the future based on current trends.  Ray Kurzweil in 2001. "It will be more like 20,000 years." Many claim this progress is making us happier. Look at what science has achieved so far. Advances in medicine have almost eradicated horrific diseases liken smallpoxA disease estimated to have killed 300 million people in the 20th Century.polioAn infectious disease that affected children all over the world. It left victims paralysed or unable to move their muscles. and then plagueA deadly disease that spreads between people.. We now live longer, healthier lives. In 1920, life expectancy in Britain was 59 for a woman and 55 for a man. Today's lifespans are 83 and 79. Most people are happy to be alive - and thanks to science, many more people are. Technology has vastly multiplied our choices, giving us more paths to happiness. We can travel anywhere in a matter of hours, talk to friends across the globe at will and find crucial information with the touch of a screen. And it has also spirited away some causes of unhappiness. Automation has freed people from some dangerous jobs. Even a relatively simple household appliance, such as the washing machine, has increased our leisure time. But critics might argue that progress and happiness do not always correlate. This is borne out by research. Take Japan: between 1960 and 1990, it soared from poverty to become the paradigmatic high-tech country. But studies showed the Japanese felt no happier during that period. New opportunities can bring new distresses. "Riches," wrote 18th-century economist Adam Smith, "leave a man sometimes more exposed than before to anxiety, to fear and to sorrow." Our technological wealth does the same. Without cars there would be no car crashes. The Internet has connected us, but it has also fuelled loneliness, cyber-bullying and deepfakesThis technique uses artificial intelligence to change the identity of a person in an image or a video — or to make it appear that a person is saying or doing something that they never said or did. . So, does progress make us happy? Quantum leap Without a doubt, argue some. Human existence was once nasty, brutish and short. Thanks to science, it is more agreeable, peaceable and long. By empowering us to take on more satisfying work and spend more time at leisure, technology has granted many more greater liberty to pursue their own joy. Life might still have its bumps, but progress has made them softer than ever before. Others argue that it is naive to put our faith in progress alone. It might broaden our opportunities for happiness, but it does not necessarily follow that we will be able to seize on them. Statistics suggest that people's view of their own happiness can stay the same even in times of great advance. As science and technology surge forward, they also risk conjuring up new causes of unhappiness. KeywordsHomo sapiens - The species to which all modern humans belong. Homo sapiens means "wise man" in Latin.

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