Things you must know about SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY and the FUTRE PART 4

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15. HUMAN GENOME PROJECT. This is the giant project to identify 100,000 genes in the 46 chromosomes of the human body. Taking some $3 billion and 15 years to complete, this US program may one day allow researchers to diagnose and treat inherited disorders as well as AIDS and cancer. 16. EARTHQUAKE PROTECTION. Using "smart" technology, future engineers and architects will design buildings and structures that can withstand earthquakes by placing massive weights and braces that counteract the shaking of the ground. Sensors in the structures will transmit information about earthquake vibrations to a central computer that will tell the weights how to respond in order to stabilize the building. 17. CHAOS is a new scientific theory that challenges the idea that one can predict future events by gathering enough information. Worries of the World: 18. DIET FOR A SMALL PLANET. As humans take up more and more space on the planet, we may have to come up with other ways of producing food. One possible solution was recently suggested by scientists, Instead of full-sized livestock, they propose that we turn to "micro-livestock" small versions of cattle, goals, pigs, and other species, including the giant rat. Like computers, livestock for use in developing countries would be getting smaller and personal. Conventional species are too large for the world's poorest people. They require too much space and expense, according to scientists. 19. BIODIVERSITY. Scattered among hundreds of thousands of plant species lies a wealth of genetic information. Many of these species have never been identified, much less studied. Most of them never will be. Selective breeding practices of modern agriculture and widespread deforestation are killing them off at breakneck speed. With each dies a library of genetic information, possibly including clues to curing cancer or feeding a hungry world. 20. GREENHOUSE EFFECT. Due to this, the world is growing dangerously warmer. The greenhouse effect is the process by which carbon dioxide and other gases from power plants and automobiles absorb the sun's infrared rays, much like the walls of a greenhouse. The experts cautioned that rising temperatures from the building of fuel gases would soon melt ice on the earth's polar caps. This would in turn cause sea water to rise and thus flood coastal areas and turn cropland to wasteland. Other scientists however dispute this theory saying the temperature increase in the earth is only a typical climate shift. 21. POPULATION EXPLOSION. There are about 5 billion people in the world. By the year 2025, the world will have 10 billion people sharing the planet's decreasing resources. Scientists are worried that food production or the earth's capacity to absorb waste may not be able to meet tne needs of people. Moreover, with widespread deforestation, the need for firewood, the Third World's number one fuel, will increase beyond what can be provided. Other forces may serve to curb the population crisis. Scientists may develop ways to accelerate food production, and disease, already wreaking havoc in the Third World, is sure to devastate pockets of the earth's people.