MAKING IT SAFE On a monitor a police officer watches a suspicious package lying in the middle of the floor Someone has called in a threat The building has been evacuated People have been warned to stay away by loudspeakers and also by text messages on their phones Everyone is safe but now police must deal with what might be a bomb Fortunately the police officer is not risking her life She is in another building Using a remote control she guides a bomb disposal robot toward the suspicious package Technology makes people’s lives easier Cars and planes make us move faster Computers and the Internet make us more knowledgeable Special cameras allow us to see things our eyes cannot New materials make possible things we could only imagine before By experimenting we look for ways to make our tools easier to use and more powerful As technology changes so do we We start to do things differently Some of the most important tools we have are the things we use to defend ourselves New technology can help armies fight wars and police stop criminals Not all progress is good however Weapons are designed to kill The smarter these weapons become the more people they are able to kill sometimes by mistake Advances in police technology raise questions about our privacy Cameras can look everywhere and see everything Some people may say that if we have nothing to hide we have nothing to fear However technologies can wind up in the wrong hands and be misused 4 TECH FOR BETTER OR WORSE
Technologies have helped our armies and police forces save lives New technologies allow officers to stop suspects without killing them They can help emergency services and governments deal with the aftereffects of war by making bombs safe and the land free of chemicals that could destroy crops They can use satellites and computer surveillance to watch suspects to prevent crimes from happening before the police get involved Video cameras allow an officer to see what a bomb disposal robot is seeing A F-16 Falcon flies in a military exercise New technology is tested in drills and simulations that are close to real life 5 SEEING THE ADVANTAGES
SMART WEAPONS Humans have always made and relied on weapons Today new technologies are being used to create extremely advanced weapons These weapons are capable of causing much destruction but new technology is also helping humans develop ways to limit that destruction Although scopes help snipers see their target they must adjust for wind and gravity New guided bullets can help Soldiers are now able to use apps and computer programs to assist them in the field Bombs leave a wide destructive path but sniper bullets are more precise Lasers and high-zoom cameras help snipers see and hit targets from far away British sniper Corporal Craig Harrison holds the record for the longest shot hitting a target in Afghanistan from 8,120 feet 2,475 m away The bullet traveled at 2,093 miles per hour 3,368 kph Snipers can hide but they must see their target to fire their rifle When they do this they are placing themselves in danger One answer is the CornerShot rifle which bends so it can shoot around corners It was developed by an ex-officer from the Israeli army Cameras ensure the soldiers shoot accurately while staying safely behind a wall Even more effective is a bullet that aims itself like a guided missile In 2015 the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency DARPA in the United States put this technology in a bullet allowing it to stay on target even in high winds Other technology makes sure weapons can fire without jamming It used to be important to keep your gunpowder dry but today armies can even fire some rifles underwater 6 SMART RIFLES AND BULLETS
One problem with weapons is they can be used against anyone Microstamping technology stamps the identification of a gun onto a bullet This helps police trace bullets back to a criminal’s gun Better yet some smart guns can read the DNA of the person using it If the wrong person’s finger is on the trigger the weapon is turned off Soldiers are able to use apps and computer technology to help them on the battlefield Nett Warrior is a technology that uses a cell-phone like device to provide soldiers with up-to-the-minute accurate battlefield information On the screen soldiers can see the location of their fellow soldiers the location of enemy targets and whether an area has been cleared as safe Soldiers can then make quick decisions with less risk of deadly mistakes 7 TECHNO PLANET IN THE RIGHT HANDS
