Harmful achievements of civilization. Man-made disasters

Bina Ivanova

Look
1) Mankind has created many inventions, among them there are harmful ones (enumeration)
1) Start with the most global ( atomic bomb, weapon for example) that brings harm to a person. wikipedia ... Take a look at different sites. Next, speculate what would happen if there were no these inventions
2) Next, what destroys nature. For example, cars are the most common thing in the world, but how destructive it is for nature
3) Tell us about the omens that are often used in Everyday life, but they are very spongy to nature.
4) When describing, try to exaggerate.
5) I wrote an essay once in my life, so don't count on my advice.

HIT - PARADE OF THE MOST HARMFUL ACHIEVEMENTS OF CIVILIZATION

Who said that advertising is the engine of progress? Nothing like this! The mother of all inventions and rationalizations is human laziness. In an effort to make their lives easier, people have come up with a car, vacuum cleaner, telephone, and escalator. Everything would be fine, but many inventions turned into a double-edged sword. Humanity is celebrating a victory - there are more losses than gains.

Automobile. With his invention, the "era of gas pollution" began. The percentage of asthmatics and heart patients in large industrial centers has almost doubled. This is due to exhaust gases containing carbon monoxide, heavy metal salts and other harmful substances.

Precautionary measures:

- Gases are heavier than air, they accumulate about a meter from the ground, therefore, while standing at the bus stop, it is better to hold the children in your arms.

- Take antioxidants regularly to neutralize free radicals in the body.

- Make up for the lack of fresh air at least once a week by walking in ecologically clean areas.

- If you have a choice, give preference to housing in a high-rise building.

Refrigerators and deodorants. Many modifications of these achievements of civilization contain freon - a gas that destroys the ozone layer, which protects us from harmful radiation from space. Most of all "gaps" in the atmosphere over Antarctica and Australia. The inhabitants of the latter are the leaders in the number of patients with skin cancer.

Precautionary measures:

- Do not buy refrigerators and deodorants made before 1996 - they work on the basis of freon.

- Use cosmetics with a high level of UV protection.

Herbicides, pesticides and nitrates. Weeds and pests have undoubtedly decreased, and the harvest from the fields has increased. And those for whom this harvest is intended? For reference: pesticides are not just toxic and carcinogenic, they tend to accumulate in the body, poisoning it slowly but surely.

Precautionary measures:

- Try to buy vegetables and fruits from trusted people who process their plots to a minimum.

- Do not use for further cooking water where vegetables, "suspected" of the presence of pesticides, were cooked.

- Remember: most of all nitrates are found in the core of carrots, the top leaves of cabbage, zucchini peel, in the legs of mushrooms and stems of dill, parsley.

- Harvest vegetables in the morning when their nitrate content is minimal.

- Shred greens just before use - in chopped vegetables, the process of converting nitrates to nitrites is especially fast.

- Consume ascorbic acid - it has the ability to neutralize nitrates.

Preservatives.

Experts have found that some approved preservatives and emulsifiers are carcinogenic.

Precautionary measures:

- Avoid buying "long-lasting" foods (cakes, muffins, cookies, soda).

- Instill in children the idea that littering the body with food with a long shelf life is life-threatening.

10 most harmful achievements of civilization.wmv

Municipal educational institution Gymnasium №9 Research On the topic: The most harmful achievements of civilization Completed by: Grishchenko German Alekseevich Pupil 10 "B" grade 2018 Contents 1.Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………… 3 2.Theoretical part Chapter1. Inventions in human life ………………………………………………. 4 Chapter 2. Contradiction of inventions …………………………………………………. 5 3. Practical part 3.1 Interview …………………………………………………………………………………………… .. 8 3.2 Diagram …… …………………………………………………………………………………. 9 4. Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………………. 10 5. Bibliography ……………………………………………………………………………………… 11 Introduction The purpose of the work is to find information about inventions and identify the most harmful achievements of civilization. The object of research is the most harmful achievements of civilization. The subject of research is Negative consequences modern inventions Objectives: -To study the literature, statistical data on this study. - Provide basic information about the harm of the achievements of civilization. -Analyze the results of the questioning and interviewing. The subject of the research is the negative consequences of modern inventions Research methods: Theoretical - the study of literature, Internet resources, relevant to the topic; Practical - the study of public opinion, analysis of statistical data. 3 Chapter 1 For a long time, man wanted to free himself from physical efforts or to lighten them. Carrying weights, people invented carts, because it is easier to roll. Then they adapted animals - oxen, deer, dogs, horses. This is how carts and carriages appeared. In the crews, people strove for comfort, improving them more and more. The entire history of mankind testifies to the fact that man is endowed with the gift of inventing, and his desire to invent is immeasurable. Human inventions include such impressive things as the airplane, the computer and the telephone, which significantly changed the world, as well as introduced principles and methods that are successfully used in everyday life. Today we live in quite comfortable conditions, thanks to the achievements of civilization and use its benefits, which we received as a result of numerous discoveries and inventions of mankind. Having got used to such a comfortable, modern life, we perceive all these achievements as an integral part of our modernity. Of course, we are grateful to all those who filled our life with discoveries, inventions, thereby making it much easier, making it more comfortable and interesting. The possibilities of a person's choice are enormous, both in means of transport, communications, and in various multimedia means. We cannot imagine our life without mobile phones, computers, televisions and other benefits. But due to the fact that Lately more and more often a warning to mankind about the reverse side of all these "super-achievements" sounds, one has to think: are these achievements of mankind really so dangerous, and which of them is the most dangerous? 4 Chapter 2 The achievements of civilization are not only beneficial, but also harmful. It touches on many aspects of human life. Let us consider what achievements of scientific and technological progress bring not only relief, but also harm, and significant. 1 Nuclear power. Despite the fact that one nuclear reactor produces a million kilowatt-hours of electrical energy per hour without burning fossil fuel, the nuclear power plant still produces much more dangerous waste - radioactive. Some of them have half-lives of several billion years. And once accumulated in the human body, many of them are no longer excreted. 2 Genetically modified foods. Genetically modified foods are scientists' answer to the challenge of eliminating hunger on Earth. V modern world genetically modified foods (GMOs) are poorly studied. And such developments cause an ambiguous reaction in all countries of the world. GMOs are obtained by introducing so-called “target genes” into the genetic structure of an organism. This is done in order to endow the plants with new properties. For example, the scorpion gene was used to create a drought-tolerant wheat cultivar. Scientists have successfully introduced new genes into dozens of plant and animal species - to create tobacco plants with glowing leaves, tomatoes that can easily tolerate frost, and corn resistant to pesticides. Nobody has proven that it is safe, some Russian scientists warn. Others regret that there are no fields in the Russian Federation where "artificial" plants are grown 3 Automobile. The massive proliferation of cars brings a serious problem of gas pollution in the environment. Due to the presence of a huge number of cars, the air of large cities contains carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and heavy metal compounds. 5 4 Televisions. They emit rays that are harmful to health. It is especially harmful to spend many hours near computers 5 Mobile phones. Their radiation causes brain tumors and impotence in men. At the same time, it is short-wave radiation that acts on the brain, the most dangerous because it can cause irreversible mutations. 6 Credits. The loan makes it possible to fulfill, so to speak, your dream right here and now. You do not need to wait a month or a year, the required amount will be in your hands. Moving on to the minus. It lies in the fact that the bank is not interested in your unforeseen circumstances. It doesn't matter to him that you have lost your job or become seriously ill. Of course, the bank, issuing a large amount, also cares a little, if I may say so, about its borrowers. He requires you to take out insurance. But this, too, does not bring much benefit. A respite is also given, but, alas, it also often does not help. That is why many people are deprived of their mortgaged property. 6 7 Internet. The first thing that comes to mind when talking about the dangers of the Internet is the so-called Internet addiction. But not everyone can explain what it is. Psychologists distinguish several types of Internet addiction: - An irresistible desire to make more and more new acquaintances, a desire to recruit as many “friends” as possible in various social networks. - Obsessive need for the Internet: hours of debate on forums, participation in various promotions, etc. ... - Overload of Internet information, which is expressed in the constant search for information, endless travels on news sites, etc. - Dependence on online games, from which a person literally cannot tear himself away 7 Practical part In the framework of the study, 50 students of the 10th grades of the “MOU gymnasium №9” were interviewed. The respondents were asked to answer the question, "What achievements of civilization do you consider the most harmful?" -1 Nuclear energy -2 Genetically modified products -3 Car -4 Genetically modified organisms -5 Mobile phones -6 Credits -7 Internet -8 Another option 8 9 Conclusion The discoveries and inventions considered in the work really make a person's life more comfortable and convenient interesting. But the other side was also identified. That they can carry both benefit and harm. By themselves, the achievements of civilization, in my opinion, can be neither harmful nor useful, and according to the results of the study, we can conclude that all of the above is useful if used correctly. That all of them should be used in moderation. We are so accustomed to what surrounds us today that it is impossible to imagine how people used to do without all this ... I wonder what awaits us ahead, and without which we will not be able to live and develop in 100, 200, 500 ... years. 99 10 "The most harmful achievements of civilization" References 1 Voytyuk T.Yu. "Problems of Nuclear Energy Development". Minsk 2002 2 I. V. Ermakova. Genetically modified organisms. Sochi 2010 3

Humanity persistently continues to generate technologies that can destroy it. Correspondent in No. 43 of November 1, 2013 selected the ten most harmful inventions that have become widespread in recent years

The humble American engineer Thomas Midgley hardly knew that many decades after his death he would be called "the living organism that caused the greatest harm to the ozone layer of the Earth."

Midgley worked for General Motors and in 1930 invented a substance designed to replace the toxic and harmful coolants previously made for household appliances such as refrigerators. Midgley synthesized freon, a gas with high thermodynamic properties, in short time which has received large-scale application in many areas of industry. Freon has been used in refrigerators, air conditioners, and perfumes for the production of deodorants. Later it turned out that freon, decomposing in the atmosphere, releases chlorine and destroys the ozone layer of the Earth. The greenhouse activity of freon exceeds the similar properties of carbon dioxide by several thousand times. And this terrible substance is still present in modern household appliances.

“Humanity would rather care about cooling its asses today than about the future of its grandchildren in decades,” says American ecologist Martin Flynn.

Freon is not the only example of how technologies, dangerous for millions of people and for the ecology of the planet, simply refuse to go out of use - often despite the availability of serious and much safer alternatives.

Humanity refuses to switch to alternative energy sources, despite the experience of Chernobyl and Fukushima. He continues to grow crops with chemical fertilizers and poison himself with synthetic vitamin supplements instead of healthy vitamins from natural products. Hundreds of millions of women continue to wear heels, although it has already been proven that heels are no less dangerous than nicotine and fast food.

GMO foods are firmly entrenched in supermarket shelves, and combustion engines are in no hurry to give way to less environmentally damaging structures under the hoods of cars.

Correspondent presents the ten most harmful inventions of mankind, which have firmly established themselves in society over the past 100 years and are not going to become history.

Atomic Energy

The peaceful atom was once called a safe and reliable source of energy and declared the savior of humanity. Whole countries were betting on this particular atom - they predicted the role of the gravedigger of the oil industry.

And then Chernobyl happened. And many states have revised their plans for the use of nuclear energy. It took more than two decades for the world to recover from a terrible catastrophe. The nuclear power industry again had active lobbyists who proved that it was safe.

Then Fukushima burst out, showing again that a peaceful atom can turn into a formidable weapon against its creators.

WITH economic point From the standpoint of nuclear power, it does seem very profitable, experts say. And the ecology of the nuclear power plant (at least until the moment of the catastrophe) is kept at its best.

However, the risks of catastrophe override these benefits, making nuclear power one of the greatest human inventions that should be abandoned as soon as possible. This is the opinion, for example, of members of the German government. Until recently, this country announced its intention to increase the share of the atom in its energy sector. After Fukushima, the German authorities publicly buried these plans.

But the threat has not passed, experts are in a hurry to warn. For example, Turkey intends to launch new reactors to reduce dependence on energy imports. And the Chinese authorities explain their desire to close many coal plants by environmental concerns. Their role in the supply of energy will be played by new nuclear reactors, according to the idea - more environmentally friendly.

“This is a triumph of hope over fear,” says Scientific American columnist David Bello.

Chemical fertilizers

Every gardener knows that without fertilizers, vegetables and fruits of a marketable type cannot be grown. But natural fertilizers for Agriculture not enough on an industrial scale. In this regard, mankind in the XX century has adopted the achievements of chemistry.

Experts call their widespread use one of the greatest ills of our time. Thus, the results of a major study by American scientists last year showed that Singapore and Brazil are leading in the list of countries that cause the most serious harm to the planet's ecology. And the main problem in these countries is not the emission of greenhouse gases, but the use of chemical fertilizers in agriculture.

Other states on the list of the most pests also abuse chemical fertilizers. These are Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Mexico, Peru.

But, in addition to the deterioration of the environmental situation, chemical fertilizers also pose a direct threat to human health. The dangers of nitrates began to be discussed in the 1980s, and in the 1990s, scientists established a direct link between many agricultural chemicals and the occurrence of cancer.

Gloomy discoveries continue to this day. Recently, American scientists from the University of Washington in Seattle found that the substance atrazine, a fertilizer popular with US farmers, is the cause of the terrible disease of gastroschisis (non-union of the walls of the abdominal cavity) in infants. In the 30 years since the use of atrazine in agriculture, the number of cases of the disease in the United States has quadrupled.

Infants conceived in the spring (when farmers are actively using chemicals) are at serious risk if their parents live within 25 kilometers of the atrazine spraying area.

Cloning

Only time travel can argue for the first line in the ranking of the most popular themes of world fiction with cloning. For many decades, science fiction writers have put forward various versions of what will happen to humanity when cloning becomes a reality.

Some promised a bright future with the ability to treat deadly diseases with artificially grown organs, as well as solve the food problem by cloning animals. Most others, however, leaned towards grim scenarios.

In medicine, optimists hoped that a clone could be endowed with edited versions of genes, which would allow people to grow up free from even the hypothetical possibility of serious diseases such as cancer or Alzheimer's disease.

On the other hand, many scientists believe that cloning is risky. For example, with the long-term unpredictability of genetic changes.

Various diseases in the modern world are the result of the accumulation of genetic mutations. The beginning of human cloning could lead to an aggravation of the process, experts fear.

Research data directly indicates that nature has prepared some mechanisms designed to protect natural breeding methods. So, a few years ago, scientists from the University of Cambridge discovered a direct link between the method of conceiving a child and the likelihood of developing Beckwith-Wiederman syndrome - a severe hereditary disease which destroys the structure of kidney tissue and increases the risk of cancer.

This syndrome is more common in infants conceived by in vitro fertilization (IVF) than in infants conceived in a traditional way. Cell manipulation leads to the risk of genome damage, which, in turn, provokes hereditary pathologies.

Both IVF and even more manipulative cloning technology damage not so much the very genetic information, which is contained in the cell nucleus, how many mechanisms regulate the activity of various genes. This hypothesis explains the multiple failures of animal cloning. Subjects are often born sick, and in general, the lifespan of clones is less than that of animals conceived in the usual way.

Antibiotics

This invention, once declared a breakthrough in medicine, is now considered dangerous, and experts seriously suggest abandoning the widespread use of antibiotics.

Antibiotics - substances that selectively suppress the vital functions of certain microorganisms, make it easy to quickly cope with diseases for the treatment of which traditional methods it took weeks and months.

Bacteria have learned to adapt to antibiotics, making existing drugs less effective and diseases more aggressive

However, the widespread use of antibiotics to treat any sneeze has created new threats. Bacteria have learned to adapt to antibiotics, making existing drugs less effective and diseases more aggressive. Already today, doctors cannot predict new forms of diseases that appear due to the fact that bacteria get used to antibiotics.

Of course, there are a number of diseases that are difficult to cure without antibiotics, for example, when it comes about bacterial infections. But the researchers warn that if ordinary people do not change their attitude to the treatment of colds, then by 2020 the bulk of antibiotics will simply stop working.

High heels

Scientists have been talking about the dangers of high heels for a long time, but the benefits of talking are no more than from promoting the dangers of smoking. Hundreds of millions of women around the world wear high-heeled shoes every day when they leave the house.

Such a simple, but extremely effective way to increase their attractiveness and raise self-esteem makes women ignore the words of doctors about the dangers of high heels.

And the harm is serious. By lengthening her legs with the help of heels, a woman transfers her body weight to her toes, which provokes the development of arthritis and the formation of bumps on her toes, says American orthopedist Andrew Goldberg. It is enough to put on 7 cm high heels to increase the blood pressure in the toes by 70%.

By lengthening her legs with heels, a woman transfers her body weight to her toes, which provokes the development of arthritis and the formation of bumps on her toes

But this is not the biggest problem. Worse, heels move the body's center of gravity forward, disrupting the natural position of the hips in relation to the spine when walking. The load on knee-joint, which increases the chances of arthritis.

Over time, various muscle and nervous diseases and even schizophrenia have been added to the list of diseases in which heels are to blame.

And yet the number of supporters of the idea that heels do more good than harm prevails. For example, Italian researcher Maria Cerruto from the University of Verona believes that heels not only add sexuality to a woman's appearance, but also simply improve her. sex life... In her research, she found that women who regularly wear high heels strengthen their pelvic floor muscles.

“Typically, women find specific exercises to train these muscles too hard,” says Cerruto. "And heels can be the solution."

The era of plastic

Plastic bags, considered a luxury several decades ago, have become commonplace today. Every inhabitant of the Earth uses on average about 500 packages a year.

Plastic recycling is firmly at the top of the unfortunate list of major global warming culprits. Plastic packaging makes up about 10% of all waste produced by humanity, and burning it leads to huge emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Long-term storage of food in plastic packaging leads to inflammatory processes in the gastrointestinal tract and even mass poisoning.

The natural decomposition of polyethylene and other plastics will take centuries, since there are no bacteria in nature that can process polymer compounds. Recent studies by American ecologists show that, due to plastic waste, the population of the oceans is decreasing by 100 thousand inhabitants every year.

Legislation is already underway in many countries to restrict the use of plastic bags by the retail trade. However, paper bags that can replace them are significantly more expensive.

Also, numerous research data indicate the dangers of plastic bottles, food containers and other items that the inhabitants of the Earth encounter every day in everyday life. So, long-term storage of food in plastic packaging leads to inflammatory processes in the gastrointestinal tract and even mass poisoning.

Aluminum

Aluminum is becoming an increasingly popular material in the industry. It has a number of advantages over other metals - it is lighter with considerable strength, and is resistant to corrosion. But from the point of view of ecology, this metal is simply a monster.

In the production of 1 ton of aluminum in environment Approximately 40 kg of toxic substances, which are not very sympathetic to ecologists, are emitted, such as fluorine, sulfur dioxide, carbon and nitrogen oxides, and heavy metals. People falling into the zone of action of these substances, massively fall ill with purulent bronchitis and pneumonia.

Aluminum is to blame for the increased risk of anemia and arthritis

The accusations against aluminum do not end there. Doctors believe aluminum is to blame for the increased risk of anemia and arthritis. In particular, in the blood of patients with arthritis, there is always a high level of aluminum. The risk of osteoporosis (fragility of bones) also increases sharply when this metal accumulates in the body. There is evidence that aluminum adversely affects nervous system.

In order for aluminum to enter the body, it is not necessary to work in production or eat from aluminum dishes. It is found in various forms in food. Aluminum sulfates are common ingredients in canned food and even biscuits. Also, these substances are used for technical cleaning drinking water from impurities.

Synthetic vitamins

The vitamin needle on which humanity sat down in the second half of the 20th century will be very difficult to get off in the 21st century, says American physician Paul Offit, author of the bestselling book Do you believe in magic? - a book dedicated to debunking myths about vitamins.

Over the decades, Offit said, massive propaganda has taught people to drink vitamin supplements. It will take at least as long for people to wean themselves from pills and begin to adhere to a diet that allows you to get healthy vitamins from food.

Vitamins are vital, but only those people who, due to various circumstances, have a serious shortage of them, should take them in the form of supplements.

Taking supplements threatens unpleasant consequences for healthy people, because often their excess is fraught with the development of dangerous diseases, scientists say.

So, studies have shown that large doses of vitamin C, which in the mass consciousness is almost associated with immortality, lead to accelerated formation of kidney stones and, possibly, its excess is associated with some forms of cancer. Excess vitamin E increases the risk of prostate cancer. And excessive doses of vitamin A make bones more fragile. Excessive doses of iron and calcium included in multivitamin complexes are also dangerous. These substances become toxic when excessively concentrated.

“Our intuition isn't always right,” says American medical columnist Steven Salzberg. “And if something is useful in small quantities, it does not mean that it will not be harmful in large doses.”

Genetically modified organisms

One of the most controversial phenomena of the second half of the 20th century, GMOs, is still the subject of fierce discussions among scientists of all stripes. TO early XXI For centuries, advocates of the safety of foods derived from various genetic technologies seemed to have prevailed.

Although in last years the controversy flared up with renewed vigor. French researcher Gilles-Eric Séralini, professor, poured oil into the smoldering fire of the discussion molecular biology University of Cannes.

Together with his colleagues, Seralini observed laboratory rats fed with genetically modified corn for several years. The results of the observations turned out to be truly terrible: many rats showed complex pathologies, including mammary gland tumors, abnormal formations in the liver and kidneys. All these pathologies were found in experimental animals five times more often than in the same rodents that ate non-GMO corn.

Séralini's data made a lot of noise. After the publication of the results of the work, the scientist himself also told the world the detective story of obtaining funds for its implementation.

Since the official science already considers the harmlessness of GMOs an axiom, it was not possible to obtain money for research that casts doubt on the generally accepted stereotype by official means.

The work was eventually financed by large retail chains in France, trying to protect themselves from new scandals like famous history when they were blamed for the mad cow disease epidemic over GMO foods.

Many animal studies show that regular consumption of GMO foods leads to health problems

Séralini's data was published in the authoritative publication Food and Chemical Toxicology. Official science subjected his work to severe criticism, primarily from a methodological point of view. However, the Frenchman had a mass of supporters who claimed that industrial lobbyists were behind the criticism. Their motivation is clear.

“Changing climatic conditions complicate farming, ”explains Margaret Smith of Cornell University. "And humanity needs any way to increase yields."

"Many animal studies show that regular consumption of GMO foods leads to health problems," says American physician Michael Wold. “They primarily affect the stomach and intestines, and in some cases the liver, kidneys and lungs.”

However, there is still insufficient evidence that people suffer from these problems, says Smith. Further research is needed.

Internal combustion engines

Someday Elon Musk and his company Tesla Motors will be declared the saviors of humanity from a climate catastrophe, says Canadian ecologist Michael Flynn. This is provided, of course, that the world can really cope with global warming, he adds.

Musk, often referred to as the new Steve Jobs, rose to fame as one of the co-founders of PayPal. He later founded SpaceX, a pioneer in private space exploration, but has recently featured more in the media as the father of the first truly interesting electric vehicles.

They are interesting, according to Flynn, because they can attract a consumer looking for comfort and prestige in a car. Until now, electric cars have been boring and small means of transportation, in which only people who are seriously concerned about the environment could willingly sit, says Flynn.

Tesla Motors sells big, beautiful electric vehicles. And this is a step into the future - soon gasoline engines will become history. Tesla Motors' success spurs classic manufacturers to announce, one by one, new models that do without burning fuel.

The massive abandonment of internal combustion engines would lead to a significant change in the ecological picture of the world, experts say. In particular, environmentalists have calculated that in any typical metropolis, cars are the source of about 70% of the thermal energy that the city releases into the environment. It is also estimated that cars account for 20% of all carbon dioxide emissions.

Thus, gasoline engines rank second in the list of global culprits. warming after fossil fuel power plants.

This material was published in No. 43 of the Korrespondent magazine dated November 1, 2013. Reprinting of the publications of the journal Correspondent in full is prohibited. You can familiarize yourself with the terms of use of the materials of the Korrespondent magazine published on the Korrespondent.net website.

If you take a closer look at our time, you can see that a great future has already arrived - a smartphone that fits in your pocket replaces an entire computer, the Internet allows you to get any information in just a couple of seconds, and an automatic hand dryer in a public toilet is turned on with one movement of the hand.

But if you look at our time even better, it becomes clear that many of the modern conveniences do not make life better at all, but only harm, even if it is not noticeable with their daily use. Here are five examples that apply to each.

Snooze for another 5 minutes button knocks down your sleep pattern

Achievement of civilization in recent years - the button "Doze for another 5 minutes", postponing the alarm clock - teaches a person an extremely harmful thing called procrastination. This word means postponing for later an extremely unpleasant task that you really do not want to do. V in this case- morning rise.

But psychology is not so bad. The button affects your body at a physiological level. Every cell in your body contains a protein called PERIOD (PER) that rises and falls every 24 hours. It is this protein that is responsible for your circadian rhythm, so if you lie down and get up always at the same time, your body gradually learns to increase the concentration of this protein at certain times so that you wake up. For example, this happens for those who regularly get up seconds before the alarm goes off - their body is perfectly synchronized with the rhythm of life.

But if you don't stick to a schedule (and most of us admit to ourselves, we don't stick to it), then your body will never learn when it needs to wake up. In this case, you have to rely on the alarm to wake you up. This way of getting up is extremely unpleasant and even irritating, which is why the desire to press the cherished button and sleep for another five minutes is always so great.

Your brain knows very well how difficult it is to get out of bed, so it increases the amount of dopamine in your blood and decreases the concentration of serotonin, which allows your body to wake up faster. But if you give yourself a chance to sleep for another five minutes, and then another five, and another, until you finally get up, then this affects your condition far from the best way. Because of these "dopamine-serotonin roller coasters" your brain is in the morning slow and "rumpled", as after a stormy night.

Automatic hand dryers scatter bacteria throughout your body

Many of us are so used to automatic hand dryers in public washrooms that even having paper towels instead of these machines can be a little embarrassing. However, if you are not the type to wipe your wet hands on your pants anyway, we have bad news for you - in terms of hygiene, there is nothing worse than an air dryer.

Studies show that after the process of drying hands with a stream of hot air, the number of bacteria on the skin increases by an average of 255%. True, it is not the dryers themselves that are to blame for this, but the environment where they are located. The toilet, with its humid, warm, and not very hygienic conditions, is an excellent breeding ground for bacteria. And the dryer just scatters them nobly over your skin with a stream of air, acting as a "microbial bazooka". Therefore, if possible, it is better to use paper towels - they will fly bacteria from your hands into the trash can, where they belong.

Popular pain relievers dull your emotions

When you have a fever or an unbearable headache, a toothache or something else, then one remedy immediately comes to mind - paracetamol. In addition to being popular in its pure form, this drug is also found in a pile of antipyretic and pain relievers that are sold under various brands. Paracetamol is undoubtedly one of the most popular medicines on Earth, so its effects are very well understood. And it’s not that safe.

For example, taking it not in the best way can affect the liver and kidneys, so it should not be mixed with alcohol. But paracetamol also has side effects that cannot be avoided.

Only relatively recently have scientists found out that paracetamol fundamentally dulls human emotions. First, scientists discovered the strange effect of paracetamol, which was expressed in the suppression of not only physical pain, but also emotional pain - the substance literally reduced negative emotions from an individual's experience of social rejection. But don't rush to the pharmacy the next time your new profile picture is ignored by all your friends on the social network.

In a classic experiment, scientists found that paracetamol dulls emotions of the entire spectrum - both good and bad. To do this, they forced the participants in the experiment to look at pictures of different emotional content in the normal state and under the influence of paracetamol. Measurement of the reaction of the subjects showed a clear decrease in their emotional response to both joyful and sad or annoying pictures.

Moreover, later it turned out that paracetamol also dulls such a fundamental feeling as the fear of death. So if you suddenly unbearably wanted to go to fight in some hot spot for the interests of the ruling class, you should not blame the TV for everything, perhaps the government is just pouring paracetamol into the tap water and nothing else.

Synthetic clothing makes you stink

So, you finally decided to fulfill the promise you made to yourself before the New Year and signed up for the gym. But don't go there in a stretched T-shirt and old shorts, after all? So you run to a sports store to buy latest development one of the trendy sportswear brands that not only ventilates your body, but also reduces sweating, increasing its performance (or whatever else they usually talk about in commercials). True, what any manufacturer always keeps silent about is that in such clothes you start to stink like dead fish.

It has been proven Scientific research... Researchers took several samples of clothes from various fabrics, soaked them with people who were working in the gym, put them in bags for 24 hours, and then, with the help of a specially trained assistant (yes, there are such professions), they forced them to determine the level of stench of each of them. Synthetics won by a huge margin - no fabric smelled so much.

Deeper research has shown that synthetic fibers (such as polyester) are most beneficial for the growth of bacteria responsible for the stench. For example, the bacterium Micrococcus thrives in such tissue, breaking down fatty acids in our sweat into molecules that create unpleasant odors.

Of course, clothing manufacturers simply did not leave this behind - many of them today add various antimicrobial components to the fabric, such as silver nanoparticles. But this only creates another problem, which ecologists are already unhappy with - such antimicrobial agents have an extremely adverse effect on the environment when these things are thrown into a landfill.

Your cell phone distracts your attention ... even when you're not using it

The fact that people are becoming more absent-minded about phones should come as no surprise. But something else will surprise you - it turns out that you don't even need to use the phone to miss your cognitive abilities.

Such a result was shown by an experiment, during which the professor, as if by chance, distracted the students taking the math test with various things left on the table - a book, glasses, a telephone, and so on. It turned out that the mere presence of the phone in front of the students negatively affected the test results, in contrast to all other things. Your brain refuses to think when it remembers that there are actually more interesting things to do - flipping through the news feed or watching updates on a social network.

This result was no coincidence - other studies have confirmed that simply having a phone in sight or another person talking on the phone negatively affects an individual's cognitive abilities. Moreover, various technologies that allow, for example, less distraction while driving, do not solve the problem at all.

According to statistics, more accidents occur while talking on a cell phone using a headset than during text messaging. Moreover, even voice control of the phone does not help - research shows that this feature, which many of us still associate with science fiction films of the past, further affects a person's lack of attention.

The humble American engineer Thomas Midgley hardly knew that many decades after his death he would be called "the living organism that caused the greatest harm to the ozone layer of the Earth."

Midgley worked for General Motors and in 1930 invented a substance designed to replace the toxic and harmful coolants previously made for household appliances such as refrigerators. Midgley synthesized freon, a gas with high thermodynamic properties, which in a short time was widely used in many areas of industry. Freon has been used in refrigerators, air conditioners, and perfumes for the production of deodorants. Later it turned out that freon, decomposing in the atmosphere, releases chlorine and destroys the ozone layer of the Earth. The greenhouse activity of freon exceeds the similar properties of carbon dioxide by several thousand times. And this terrible substance is still present in modern household appliances.

“Humanity would rather care about cooling its asses today than about the future of its grandchildren in decades,” says American ecologist Martin Flynn.

GMO foods are firmly entrenched in supermarket shelves, and combustion engines are in no hurry to give way to less environmentally damaging structures under the hoods of cars.

The correspondent presents the ten most harmful inventions of mankind, which have firmly established themselves in society over the past 100 years and are not going to become history.

Atomic Energy

Then Fukushima burst out, showing again that a peaceful atom can turn into a formidable weapon against its creators.

From an economic point of view, nuclear power does seem to be very profitable, experts say. And the ecology of the nuclear power plant (at least until the moment of the catastrophe) is kept at its best.

But the threat has not passed, experts are in a hurry to warn. For example, Turkey intends to launch new reactors to reduce dependence on energy imports. And the Chinese authorities explain their desire to close many coal plants by environmental concerns. Their role in the supply of energy will be played by new nuclear reactors, which are designed to be more environmentally friendly.

“This is a triumph of hope over fear,” says Scientific American columnist David Bello.

Chemical fertilizers

Every gardener knows that without fertilizers, vegetables and fruits of a marketable type cannot be grown. But natural fertilizers for agriculture on an industrial scale are not enough. In this regard, mankind in the XX century has adopted the achievements of chemistry.

Other states on the list of the most pests also abuse chemical fertilizers. These are Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Mexico, Peru.

Infants conceived in the spring (when farmers are actively using chemicals) are at serious risk if their parents live within 25 kilometers of the atrazine spraying area.

Cloning

On the other hand, many scientists believe that cloning is risky. For example, with the long-term unpredictability of genetic changes.

Various diseases in the modern world are the result of the accumulation of genetic mutations. The beginning of human cloning could lead to an aggravation of the process, experts fear.

Research data directly indicates that nature has prepared some mechanisms designed to protect natural breeding methods. So, a few years ago, scientists from the University of Cambridge discovered a direct link between the method of conceiving a child and the likelihood of developing Beckwith-Wiederman syndrome, a severe hereditary disease that destroys the structure of kidney tissue and increases the risk of cancer.

Both IVF and even more manipulative cloning technology damage not so much the genetic information itself, which is contained in the cell nucleus, as the mechanisms of regulation of the activity of various genes. This hypothesis explains the multiple failures of animal cloning. Subjects are often born sick, and in general, the lifespan of clones is less than that of animals conceived in the usual way.

Antibiotics

This invention, once declared a breakthrough in medicine, is now considered dangerous, and experts seriously suggest abandoning the widespread use of antibiotics.

Antibiotics - substances that selectively suppress the vital functions of certain microorganisms, make it possible to easily cope with diseases in a short time, the treatment of which took weeks and months using traditional methods.

Bacteria have learned to adapt to antibiotics, making existing drugs less effective and diseases more aggressive

Of course, there are a number of diseases that are difficult to cure without antibiotics, for example, when it comes to bacterial infections. But the researchers warn that if ordinary people do not change their attitude to the treatment of colds, then by 2020 the bulk of antibiotics will simply stop working.

High heels

Such a simple, but extremely effective way to increase their attractiveness and raise self-esteem makes women ignore the words of doctors about the dangers of high heels.

By lengthening her legs with heels, a woman transfers her body weight to her toes, which provokes the development of arthritis and the formation of bumps on her toes

But this is not the biggest problem. Worse, heels move the body's center of gravity forward, disrupting the natural position of the hips in relation to the spine when walking. The load on the knee joint immediately increases, which increases the chances of arthritis.

Over time, various muscle and nervous diseases and even schizophrenia have been added to the list of diseases in which heels are to blame.

And yet the number of supporters of the idea that heels do more good than harm prevails. For example, Italian researcher Maria Cerruto of the University of Verona believes that heels not only add sexuality to a woman's appearance, but simply improve her sex life. In her research, she found that women who regularly wear high heels strengthen their pelvic floor muscles.

“Typically, women find specific exercises to train these muscles too hard,” says Cerruto. "And heels can be the solution."

The era of plastic

Plastic bags, considered a luxury several decades ago, have become commonplace today. Every inhabitant of the Earth uses on average about 500 packages a year.

Long-term storage of food in plastic packaging leads to inflammatory processes in the gastrointestinal tract and even mass poisoning.

Legislation is already underway in many countries to restrict the use of plastic bags by the retail trade. However, paper bags that can replace them are significantly more expensive.

Aluminum

During the production of 1 ton of aluminum, about 40 kg of toxic substances that are unattractive to ecologists, such as fluorine, sulfur dioxide, carbon and nitrogen oxides, and heavy metals, are emitted into the environment. People falling into the zone of action of these substances, massively fall ill with purulent bronchitis and pneumonia.

Aluminum is to blame for the increased risk of anemia and arthritis

Synthetic vitamins

Vitamins are vital, but only those people who, due to various circumstances, have a serious shortage of them, should take them in the form of supplements.

Taking supplements threatens unpleasant consequences for healthy people, because often their excess is fraught with the development of dangerous diseases, scientists say.

Genetically modified organisms

One of the most controversial phenomena of the second half of the 20th century, GMOs, is still the subject of fierce discussions among scientists of all stripes. By the early 21st century, advocates of food safety using various genetic technologies seemed to be gaining the upper hand.

Although in recent years the controversy has flared up with renewed vigor. French researcher Gilles-Eric Séralini, professor of molecular biology at the University of Caen, poured oil into the smoldering fire of the discussion.

Séralini's data made a lot of noise. After the publication of the results of the work, the scientist himself also told the world the detective story of obtaining funds for its implementation.

The work was eventually funded by large French retail chains, trying to protect themselves from new scandals like the famous story when they were accused of an epidemic of mad cow disease over GMO foods.

Many animal studies show that regular consumption of GMO foods leads to health problems

“Changing climatic conditions make farming more difficult,” explains Margaret Smith of Cornell University. "And humanity needs any way to increase yields."

However, there is still insufficient evidence that people suffer from these problems, says Smith. Further research is needed.

Internal combustion engines

Thus, gasoline engines are the second most likely culprit in global warming, after fossil-fueled power plants.