Text 1. Current trends in it

The Richmond Times-Dispatch, www.businessweek.com

 

stmjournals.com

PRE-READING

Activity 1. Answer the following questions:

1What do you think a trend is?

2 What are the current trends in music, dancing, ICT? Are you trendy?

 

By all accounts, nanotechnology – the science of making devices from single atoms and molecules – is going to have a huge impact on both business and our daily lives. Nano devices are measured in nanometers (one billionth of a metre) and are expected to be used in the following areas.

• Nanocomputers: Chip makers will make tiny microprocessors with nanotransistors, ranging from 60 to 5 nanometres in size.

• Nanomedicine: By 2020, scientists believe that nano-sized robots, or nanobots, will be injected into the body's bloodstream to treat diseases at the cellular level.

• Nanomaterials: New materials will be made from carbon atoms in the form of nanotubes, which are more flexible, resistant and durable than steel or aluminum. They will be incorporated into all kinds ofproducts, for example stain-resistant coatings for clothes and scratch-resistant paints for cars.

Artificial Intelligence (Al) is the science of making intelligent machines and programs. The term originated in the 1940s, when Alan Turing said: 'A machine has artificial intelligence when there is no discernible difference between the conversation generated by the machine and that of an intelligent person.' A typical AI application is robotics. One example is ASIMO, Honda's intelligent humanoid robot. Soon, engineers will have built different types of android, with the form and capabilities of humans.

 

Another AI application is expert systems or programs containing everything that an 'expert' knows about a subject. In a few years, doctors will be using expert systems to diagnose illnesses. Neural networks are a new concept in computer programming, designed to replicate the human ability to handle ambiguity by learning from trial and error. They use silicon neurons to imitate the functions of brain cells and usually involve a great number of processors working at the same time.

 

Imagine you are about to take a holiday in Europe. You walk out to the garage and talk to your car. Recognizing your voice, the car's doors unlock. On the way to the airport, you stop at an ATM. A camera mounted on the bank machine looks you in the eye, recognizes the pattern of your iris and allows you to withdraw cash from your account.

 

When you enter the airport, a hidden camera compares the digitized image of your face to that of suspected criminals. At the immigration checkpoint, you swipe a card and place your hand on a small metal surface. The geometry of your hand matches the code on the card, and the gate opens. You're on your way.

 

Does it sound futuristic? Well, the future is here. Biometrics uses computer technology to identify people based on physical characteristics such as fingerprints, facial features, voice, iris and retina patterns.

Ubiquitous computing, also known as pervasive computing, is a new approach in which computer functions are integrated into everyday life, often in an invisible way. Ubiquitous devices can be anything from smartphones to tiny sensors in homes, offices and cars, connected to networks, which allow information to be accessed anytime and anywhere - in other words, ubiquitously. In the future people will interact naturally with hundreds of these smart devices (objects containing a microchip and memory) every day, each invisibly embedded in our environment and communicating with each other without cables.

 

In the ideal smart home, appliances and electronic devices work in sync to keep the house secure. For example, when a regular alarm system senses that someone is breaking into the house, it usually alerts the alarm company and then the police. A smart home system would go further, turning on the lights in the home and then sending a text message to the owner's phone. Motorola Homesight even sends images captured by wireless cameras to phones and PCs. Smart homes can remember your living patterns, so if you like to listen to some classical music when you come home from work, your house can do that for you automatically. They will also know when the house is empty and make sure all appliances are turned off. All home devices will be interconnected over a home area network where phones, cable services, home cinemas, touch screens, smart mirrors and even the refrigerator will cooperate to make our lives more comfortable.

VOCABULARY FOCUS

Activity 2. Find words in the texts with the following meanings:

1) a microscopic robot, built with nanotechnology (text 1) _____.

2) a robot that resembles a human (text 2) _____.

3) biological identification of a person (text 3) _____.

4) integrated; inserted into (text 4) _____.

5) electrical devices, or machines, used in the home (text 5) _____.

Activity 3. Match the words to make collocations. Then make your own examples with them:

1. replicate	a. in size
2. recognize	b. a card
3. range	c. from trial and error
4. build	d. the pattern
5. be incorporated	e. into environment
6. learn	f. an android
7. swipe	g. the ability
8. be embedded	h. into products

 

Activity 4. Give derivatives of: nano-, resistant, durable

Activity 5. Give the words suiting the definitions below:

1) the science of making devices from single atoms and molecules

2) a new approach in which computer functions are integrated into everyday life, often in an invisible way

3) programs containing everything that an 'expert' knows about a subject

4) a new concept in computer programming, designed to replicate the human ability to handle ambiguity by learning from trial and error

5)work well together at exactly the same time and speed

GRAMMAR FOCUS

Activity 6. Complete the sentences, using Future Perfect following the given example: By this time in 10 years nanomedicine… will have cured cancer

1) By the time you come from work, your smart home _____.

2) By the time you retire robots_____.

3) By the middle of the XXI century all the clothes _____.

4) Within the 20 years ubiquitous devices _____.

5) I hope that by the time they finish school our grandchildren _____.

Activity 7. Open the brackets using the correct Future tense:

1) Chip makers will have made/will make tiny microprocessors with nanotransistors, ranging from 60 to 5 nanometres in size.

2) Smart homes will know/will be knowing when the house is empty and make sure all appliances are turned off.

3) By 2040 all new materials will be made/will have been made from carbon atoms in the form of nanotubes.

4) By 2050 AI will learn/will have learnt to replicate human thinking ability.

5) In a few years, doctors will be using/will have been using expert systems to diagnose illnesses.

 

WHILE-READING

Activity 8. Choose the correct answer:

1. Which unit of measurement is used in nanotechnology?

a) gigabyte b) nanometer c) hertz d) square sm

2. Which is NOT an advantage of nanotubes over regular materials?

a) flexibility b) resistance c) durability d) form

3. Which feature is NOT analyzed by biometrics?

a) barcode b) fingerprints c) facial features d) voice pattern

4. Which trend refers to computers embedded in everyday devices, communicating with each other over wireless networks?

a) nanotechnology b) smart home c) ubiquitous computing d) AI

5. What will the alarm system NOT do if someone breaks into a smart home?

a) signal the police b) send you an sms c) turn on the house lights d) identify the burglar

Activity 9. Fill in the table with computer trends and their applications:

 

Trend	Applications
Nanotechnology

 

POST-READING

Activity 10. Translate one paragraph of the text.

Activity 11. Identify the topic of the text and formulate its main idea. Summarize the text.

Activity 12. Complete the table in Activity 6 with other trends that you know. Present your ideas to class.

 

Activity 13. Hold a debate on the following resolution: “Due to advances in science and technology there is no better time to be alive than now”.

 

 

TEXT 2. QUANTUM COMPUTERS

(http://www.futuretechnology500.com/index.php/future-computers/)

networksandservers.blogspot.com

PRE-READING

Activity 1. Read the following definitions of quantum: ”a unit used for measuring very small amounts of energy”, or “the smallest amount of a physical quantity that can exist independently, especially a discrete quantity of electromagnetic radiation” and say what you know about its application in science and technology.

 

 

Future computers are on the forefront of becoming mainstream. If you think computing is all about silicon chips and bandwidth then you may want to think again in a few years as this will be irrelevant. Future quantum computers will make today’s desktops and laptops seem like wooden pegs and balls attached to sticks by strings. In the near future, computers will use nanotechnology to shrink the size of silicon chips, increasing speed and power with parallel processing.

 

But, this can go on only so long before a new technology steps in. The future quantum computers that are not based upon digital 1’s and 0’s are coming. Instead these future computers are based upon qubits (quantum bits). The power of magnetic forces at a subatomic scale will unleash the exponential power of future computers.

 

Scientists and researchers have always dreamed of artificial intelligence and computational neural networks and in the near future this will be so. Right now, silicon chips provide a limitation that will be overcome with the use of quantum mechanics in computing.

 

By manipulating the rotation of atoms, data can be transmitted and stored at an unprecedented rate. Qubits and kets are what future computers will be measured in, not gigabits or terabytes. Currently there is not enough computational power to pull off true artificial intelligence. There is also not enough computational power to decrypt complicated encryption methodologies.

 

But, with the exponential power of future quantum computers aided by nanotechnology and artificial intelligence there will be. Future computers will no longer have RAM or DRAM but rather MRAM (Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory) which is a present reality.

 

In today’s world, disabled people are being trained to work with computers using only their minds. When DARPA meets Sony and the brain-computer barriers come tumbling down, everyone will be able to command computers, robots, bionics and other quantum based electronics using only our minds. Future computers will interact with us on a neural level.

 

With the help of the qubit and the qubyte that can process 0’s and 1’s simultaneously in a process known as superposition, processing power will increase exponentially. Today’s gigaflops will be replaced by tomorrow’s teraflops, petaflops, exaflops all the way to lumaflops and beyond to words that haven’t even been created yet.

 

Future computers will allow us to communicate with others from a distance just by thinking. Researchers at IBM, UC Santa Barbara, Yale, Sony and many other companies are working on this now. Did I also mention DARPA is working on this?

 

Now, this may be scary for some people to know that the military is working on the next generation of future computers which could cause a doomsday scenario among the Super Powers. Or that countries that are not currently Super Powers could become ones by developing quantum computers for the military that become the bullies of the world.

 

But, there is a more likely scenario. And this scenario is that with the advent of future computers the world will become a more democratic place. We are already seeing the revolts in the Middle East and Far East because of the Internet and Social Media.

As communication lines are opened up and data is spread fast, the barriers between upper class and lower and middle classes start falling. Dictators who restrict communications cannot stop future technology from rising and people across the world from using new technology.

 

Because of the properties of quantum entanglement, communications around the world will become instantaneous and without geopolitical boundaries. Coups and revolts will be settled quickly as problems will be resolved with instantaneous communication globally. Future computers will aid in space travel, communications, medical technology and practically every level of our day to day lives. And this future is not as far away as you may now think.

VOCABULARY FOCUS

Activity 2. Fill in the table with derivatives:

 

Noun	Verb	Adjective	Adverb
	process
		resistive
interaction
		scary
instant
	measure

Activity 3. Match the words to make collocations. Make your own examples with them:

1. become	a. on a neural level
2. shrink	b. a doomsday scenario
3. interact	c. mainstream
4. settle	d. coups and revolts
5. cause	e. the size of chips

Activity 4. Fill in the gaps with the missing prepositions:

1. Quantum computers are now _____ the forefront of the industry development.

2. New computers will be able to process and store information _____ an unprecedented rate.

3. Currently there is not enough computational power to pull ____ true artificial intelligence.

4. Future devices will interact _____ us _____ a neural level.

5. The optimistic scenario is that _____ the advent of quantum computers the world will become more democratic.

Activity 5. Define the following words:

quantum computers, mainstream, parallel processing, neural networks, MRAM, gigaflop, Super Powers, exponential.

GRAMMAR FOCUS

Activity 6. Paraphrase the sentences using the Passive Voice:

1. Future quantum computers will make today’s desktops and laptops seem like wooden pegs and balls attached to sticks by strings.

2. In the near future, computers will use nanotechnology to shrink the size of silicon chips, increasing speed and power with parallel processing.

3. When DARPA meets Sony and the brain-computer barriers come tumbling down, everyone will be able to command computers, robots, bionics and other quantum based electronics using only our minds.

4.Tomorrow’s teraflops, petaflops, exaflops will replace today’s gigaflops.

5. Future computers will allow us to communicate with others from a distance just by thinking.

Activity 7. Put the verb into correct Future Tense, active or passive:

1. Quantum computers _____ (utilize) power of magnetic forces at a subatomic scale.

2. Future computers _____ (base) upon qubits.

3. They _____ (give) enough computational power to pull off true artificial intelligence.

4. 0’s and 1’s _____ (process) simultaneously in a process known as superposition.

5. In the future the Super Powers _____ (endanger) by the next generation of computers.

WHILE-READING

Activity 8. Read the text and mark the statements true (T), false (F) or not given (NG):

1. Computers of the future will differ from modern ones mainly in size. ___

2. New computers will be developed on the basis of Artificial Intelligence. ___

3. Quantum computers will be comparatively inexpensive. ___

4. The author is pessimistic about the future scenario for mankind development. ___

5. Superposition is the ability of computers to process 0’s and1’s at the same instant. ___

POST-READING

Activity 9. Watch the video “Michio Kaku: The Future of Quantum Computing” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgFVzOksm4o) and explain the work of quantum computers to your partner.

Activity 10. Summarize the text.

 

Activity 11. In groups discuss how quantum computers will improve every sphere of our life. Share your ideas with the class.

 

Activity 12. Hold a debate on the following resolution: “Quantum computers will cause a doomsday scenario”.