Technological Contributions to Science

Over the past few years there have been many new developments in technology. These developments have led to scientific discoveries. An example of new technology that has had significant effects on science is the development of the Hubble telescope. The telescope allows scientists to explore the universe. Another development in technology has led to new and different ways to give shots. Let's start with the Hubble Space Telescope.

The Hubble Space Telescope has had an unique scientific success, having a remarkable scientific and public recognition for its contributions to all areas of astronomy. The Hubble is very different from the way it was in 1990. The Hubble now produces much more data per unit time than it did in 1990. The Hubble has made many new discovers such as:

As many as 100 new planets orbiting stars in our galaxy
Pluto's two other moons
The grand design of spiral galaxy M100
Solar system 'fossils'
New images of the messier 101
A new pair of rings around Uranus and two new, small moons orbiting the planet.
What may be the brightest star in the galaxy, a celestial mammoth (NASA 2006)

The science used to make the Hubble the telescope what it is today is STSDAS (Space Telescope Science Data Analysis System). Thanks to the Hubble we now have more advanced weather forecast and are constantly finding new plants and other solar systems.

A second advancement in technology is the way people receive shots or vaccines. We are given vaccines to protect us from diseases but often times we may be spreading them by using a needle. Another problem with needles is that many people have a fear of them. Three inventions that may do away with needles are the Powder Med's vaccine gun, the Patches and finally is the nasal-spray vaccine.

Today I am going to talk about the vaccine gun and nasal spray. The PMED is unlike any other, because the PMED does not use needles but uses pressurized helium. The pressurized helium is shoot with microscopic DNA vaccine particles just below the skin's surface at 1,500 miles an hour. They say the shot is painless because it hits just above nerve endings, where immunity-producing cells gather in large numbers. The PMED works by delivering the DNA vaccine by directly to the nucleus of dendritic cells in the epidermis. By getting dendritic cells to express coat proteins from pathogens and then present those proteins in complexes with MHC molecules, the vaccine directly stimulates a cellular immune response; T-cells are thereby primed to recognize and dispose of the virus and infected cells. (Romanowski 2006)

One finally option for people who are scared of needles is the nasal-spray vaccine that is also called LAIV. This vaccine is given by nasal spray instead of injection. The LAIV is based on technology created by Hunein Maassab. When developing new vaccines and new ways to give them scientist use many forms of science and math such as, biology, chemistry, and much more. (Gov 2003)

There is a company that hired four scientist to make inventions that already exists better. The four men use physics and ingenuity to make alarms for baking soda and super alloy sprays for NASA . The story behind the baking soda is that Arm And Hammer asked them to make an alarm to let people know that they need to replace the baking soda in the refrigerator. The men came up with different solutions. Some are chemical, some are electronic and the company is now exploring how, if ever, it will use the technology. Now the men are using sciences on the hand dryers in public restrooms. They are trying to find a way to dry our hands quicker with out turning up the heat.

In conclusion new developments in technology have led to scientific discoveries, and those technologies have made refinements of scientific knowledge possible the development of the Hubble has let us look into other galaxies. Thanks to technology we now have a choice when we need to get vaccinated. We can get the classic needle, the PMED or the LAIV. Science and technology are working together to help protect us from disease. Technology changes the way we receive the vaccine and sciences explains how the vaccine interact with our bodies. Technology and science will continue to work side by side to discover new and better things.

Retrieved from http://www.madehow.com/Volume-6/Needle-free-Injection-System.html on April 2nd 2006 by Perry Romanowski (December 2006)This web site includes many articles about different ways to give vaccines; it goes over all the risks and advantages. (Romanowski 2006)

Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/nasalspray.htm on April 3rd 2006September 13, 2005 Author: unknown. This web site is hosted by the U.S. government to inform people about the nasal vaccine for the flu. (Gov 2003)

Retrieved from http://hubble.nasa.gov/index.php on April 2nd 2006. Date and author unknown. This web site was created by the NASA Space program.(NASA 2006)