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Computers Details Essay, Research Paper

Computers are one of the most important inventions ever. If computers had

not been invented, technology would not be developed to its current state.

Since the computers invention, society has changed drastically. Computer

technology is so helpful, that it is even used to create newer, better

computer equipment. Almost everything today is linked in some way, to

computers.

Before computers were invented, very little was known about outer space.

With the technology we have now, we are learning new things everyday.

Computers are used to follow the paths of asteroids and predict their future

movements. On 6 December 1997, a mile-wide asteroid was discovered by

astronomer Jim Scotti, a member in the University of Arizona’s Spacewatch

group. He used a 77-year-old telescope along with an electric camera that

caught the asteroid on film. He then used a computer specially programmed

to look for objects moving against the background of fixed stars. The

computer worked so well that Scotti described the asteroid as “sticking out

like a sore thumb” (Jaroff 68). His information was relayed to Brian

Marsden, a Harvard

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astronomer, to determine the course of the asteroid. After many

calculations, Marsden’s computer showed the rock would pass Earth

approximately 600,000 miles away. This may not seem important, but if an

asteroid was on a line with Earth, the computer would show us and enable us

to deflect the projectile with nuclear power (Jaroff 69). Thus, computers

can even help save lives.

In “Spies in the Sky”, Bill Sweetman writes about the use of satellites and

computers for spying on other countries. On 20 December 1996, three

computer operated satellites were released into orbit for use against Iraq.

Each one costs 800,000,000 dollars or more, most of which is spent on the

computer equipment needed to control them. When the radar data is received

from the satellite dish, it has low resolution and lacks clarity. Computer

texturing and imaging clear the pictures and even show objects that may be

hidden beneath sand, soil, or snow. When resolution was questioned by

critics, the American government produced a readable spy photo of a Russian

car’s license plate (42-48).

Computers have also made communications easier than ever. Today, e-mail is

beginning to replace the ordinary post office and telephone as a way to keep

in touch. E-mail provides the best of both worlds; it is instantaneous and

free. Before e-mail, one would have to send a letter that

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would take days to arrive, or they would have to use the telephone, which

would cost money if the call was long distance. The Internet saves

businesses money because they do not have to send out catalogs to thousands

of customers (Internet World 48-51).

Automobiles have undergone several changes since computers were put in

them. Computers provide options like cruise control, traction control,

power steering, anti-lock brakes, and the use of fuel-injected engines. The

other options are nice, but fuel-injection is a vast improvement over the

older, caurberated engines. Fuel-injected engines give a car more power,

better gas mileage, and burn gasoline cleaner (Sherman 61-63). With the

help of computers, automobiles run faster, longer, and are safer to the

environment.

In the article, “The Big Bank Theory”, Joshua Cooper Ramo writes that in

the not so distant future, the world’s money system could have a major

change. It is possible in the next ten years that cash, credit cards, ATM

cards, ID cards, insurance cards, all information pertaining to one’s

medical needs and the amount of money in your possession could all be on a

single electronic card(Time 50-51). Conceivably, this idea would make

things simpler than the current way of spending. Digital cash has many

advantages. Money could be sent over e-mail using a string of digits,

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ending the need to balance a checkbook every month. Also, one could program

the money to be spent only on certain things. Only places with the same

encoded number as the consumer would allow people to spend their money

there. One other good thing about digital money would be it would continue

to collect interest up until the moment it is spent, instead of the instant

it leaves the bank. Perhaps the best feature of digital money is it could

end all money-based crime. Because the person could cancel their old number

and get a new one at anytime, it would be pointless to steal one’s cash

card. It would be like robbing someone for a check. It is hard to imagine

how different things would be without cash theft.

Computers have revolutionized meteorology, allowing us to predict with good

accuracy how the weather will behave in the near future. They also allow us

a generalized prediction of changes in the climate farther down the road.

Some scientists think they have discovered reason to believe the polar ice

cap is going to melt soon. These scientists scraped up volcanic ash and

other debris from the land areas surrounding the ice and ran tests on it

with a computer. They seem to think that only three million years ago there

was a warm period and some of the cap melted off (Livermore 38-43). This is

totally different from conventional thinking which says the

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