Global issue: How does our science research affect criminals?

Every day we use science and technology for the management and organisation of our lives. But as our technology range increases are we putting ourselves into harm and danger? Are we subconsciously driving our nations to fall into the wraths of sociopaths and serial killers? Are our scientists actually killing more people than saving? Who is to be blamed the government or the scientists? Those are the questions that rack the brains of our most notable scientists; those are the questions that I will be providing answers for in this essay.

Is our advancement in technology actually putting ourselves in danger rather than saving us from it? That is the question that many of our world recognizable scientists are asking themselves. But if we take a look into our past and recent history we can see that the answers are there. If we take a look into the past using the Hiroshima nuclear attack, you can start to see how an innocent project used entirely for research has been used for wrong and therefore has resulted into generations of today having nuclear power affects on their body and mind.

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Early weapons models, such as the "Fat Man" bomb, ...

English: Crater from the 1962 "Sedan" nuclear test...

Now if we take a look into the present world we can still see that the same things are happening as scientists experiments are going into the wrong hands. September the 11th 2004, was the day that all of America was in mourning of the twin tower attacks. Due to hi tech “gadgets” and a new generation of pocketknives hijackers were able to hijack 4 planes successfully and carry out their plan which has started what world leaders are nicknaming “WWIII”, however that is coming to the end with the war between Iraq and USA finishing but the lives are lost and the memories are unforgettable, all because of that fateful day.

So nuclear weapons, secretly enhanced weapons, experiments that started as innocent protection, has leaded 2 in this case and many other countries into despair and unfortunate events. Nuclear weapons were used in the bombing of the Hiroshima attack. What are these weapons made of that can bring the destruction of any country in the world? Nuclear weapons can be made of either Plutonium or uranium-235. “Plutonium is created when an atom of uranium-238 absorbs a neutron and becomes plutonium-239. The reactor generates the neutrons in a controlled chain reaction, while uranium-235 is however, found in natural uranium at a concentration of only 0.7 percent. To be useful in nuclear weapons, the concentration must be increased. This is accomplished by a process known as enrichment.” This was quoted by the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control.

Besides how powerful a nuclear weapon is, there are other differences between them. They can be either a fusion or a fission device, and they can be dropped from an airplane, fired from an artillery gun, or attached to various types of rockets. Nuclear attacks are made by the government of a country although it is not unheard of terrorist groups firing very small doses of nuclear weapons from guns. Terrorists groups mainly use latest “gadgets” or weapons to get through security so that they may reach their target (unfortunately) without being notice. Which brings me to the point of “gadgets” that can now pass borders and countries without being caught. Scientists have invented what appear to be random parts of machinery but when assembled are bombs and certain types of guns, Also terrorists can smuggle drugs by putting them into water bottles in a certain liquid. Overtime the government found out and now have made airport security even tighter. So is technology killing more people than saving them?Research shows that technology has made our countries more dangerous as “Technology” can save us, but it is likely leading us down the path of our own destruction. What we need to apply now is our knowledge, not our tools. Scientists are saying that as a world we need to come together to put aside our differences for just a split second and realize that we’re facing something potentially cataclysmic. Because as our technology increases it could save our world or destroy it. And by investing our money into nuclear weapons and technology it is ruining our economy and could be used to cure a disease or something. Also that by inventing more complicated and untraceable products it actually ends up putting our social economy down as terrorist group organizations are finding it easier to smuggle in drugs and weapons as they can afford it while the government does not buy the police new equipment to keep up with the terrorists, because they do not have the money to do so (hence using the money for nuclear weapons). It is a vicious cycle.

So the big question, who is responsible the government or the scientists. I say the government as they need to put laws out restricting what scientists can invent and making that major new inventions have to have gone through the government before starting to construct it. I think that nuclear weapons should be banned worldwide by the UN as obviously no good can come from it and is a massive waste of money that countries could be using to hire scientists to find cures for untreatable diseases. But I do not think that the government is entirely to be blamed for. I think that scientists worldwide to think if what they are making is dangerous and whether it could bring our world into a more destructible place. Overall I think that our government need to make and abide laws and our scientists need to get more common sense. After all we all live in the same world, shouldn’t everyone be trying to strive to live in a world that is safe for us and our many generations yet to come?BibliographyWebsites:Bomb Facts: How Nuclear Weapons are Made. (n.d.). Retrieved October 30, 2008, from http://www.wisconsinproject.org/pubs/articles/2001/bomb%20facts.htm.

- Science and Terrorism. (n.d.). Retrieved October 30, 2008, from http://www.firstscience.com/home/articles/technology/science-and-terrorism_34117.html.

:: Total Intelligence Solutions, LLC :: . (n.d.). Retrieved October 30, 2008, from http://www.terrorism.com/.

BooksAllison, G. (2005). Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe. new york: Owl Books.

Henshall, I., & Morgan, R. (2005). 9/11 Revealed: The Unanswered Questions. New York and Washington D.C.: Da Capo Press.

Hoffman, B. (2006). Inside Terrorism. Columbia: Columbia University Press.

World map with nuclear weapons development status ...

Nuclear Weapons Center

Gun-type Nuclear weapon