Science experiments that change the world (II)

In 1878, Michelson and Morley performed an important experiment in the history of physics, changing many views on Isaac Newton's classical mechanics and prompting Albert Einstein to find relativity.

>>>Science experiments that change the world (I)

Oparia's 'original soup'

Aleksandr Ivanovich Oparia.

The modern biological science industry is confronted with a question: where does life come from? Pasteur proved that higher beings cannot arise naturally. Charles Darwin's theory of evolution gave a mechanism to explain this: it takes thousands of years for organisms to evolve from basic forms, but it will not have the same characteristics as before, but Where will these basic creatures come from?

The answer to Darwin's question is still beyond the knowledge of modern science, and there has been little progress in this area in the 19th century. In 1936, Aleksandr Ivanovich Oparin, in the famous book "The Origin of Life on Earth" ( The Origin of Life on Earth ), showed that the presence of oxygen-containing air and complex life forms prevented the chain of reactions from being created. so life. Oparia also said that a "primitive soup" with organic compounds can only form in places that lack oxygen, through sunlight.

Later, he identified that the high molecular organic compounds dissolved in water into colloidal solutions, these colloids could dissolve into each other to form tiny droplets called coacervate . These droplets can grow by absorbing other droplets, which can reproduce when there are mechanical effects that divide it into smaller particles, so it has the basic properties of a primitive cell.

All modern theories on this issue stem from Oparia's arguments.

The light detection

Light shines through the window at a station in Chicago, USA

Light is a magnetic spectrum that refers to electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths located in the visible spectrum of the naked eye.

The course studies the spread and properties of light in and between different environments called optics. Until the nineteenth century, light and its nature remained a mystery that had no solution for scientists.

In 1878, Albert Michelson and Edward Morley jointly performed a famous experiment called 'Michelson-Morley experiment'. This is an important experiment in the history of physics and is considered to be the first experiment to negate the hypothesis that electromagnetic radiation is transmitted in ether-assuming environments, and to build experimental evidence for a fairy. the subject of Albert Einstein's special theory of relativity and give accurate measurements of the speed of light. Their discovery of the phenomenon of the speed of light in a vacuum is constant and independent of the frame of reference which has changed many views on Isaac Newton's classical mechanics and prompted Albert Einstein to find a theory. relatively.

Discovering the radioactivity of radioactive substances

Marie Curie and Pierre's husband in the laboratory.

In 1896, Marie Curie and her husband Pierre and French physicist Henri Becquerel discovered that the uranium compounds were able to generate non-visible rays, which could penetrate objects that rays Brightness often does not pass through called radioactive rays.

Studies of the nature of radioactive phenomena show that the nucleus of radioactive atoms is unstable, self-decomposing and releasing different matter particles such as alpha and beta particles with electromagnetic radiation like gamma rays. Simultaneously with natural radioactive phenomena, it is also discovered that some types of atoms of some artificial elements are also capable of radioactivity.

In 1903, all three scientists were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for the above radiation studies, and Marie Curie was the first woman to receive the award. Eight years later, she received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1911) for the discovery of two chemical elements radium and polonium during the study of earlier radioactive substances.

Ivan Pavlov and the 'conditional reflex' law

Ivan Pavlov.

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov is a Russian physiologist, psychologist and physician, academician of the Academy of Sciences of Peterburg. He was the recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1904 for his work on the digestive system.

In the 1890s, Pavlov studied the gastric function of dogs by observing their gastric secretion. He noticed that dogs often produce gastric juice when they detect signals that signal the appearance of food (such as the sound of the footsteps of people often giving them food, or any stimulus related to consciousness. They can be exposed to a long time such as a bell, a whistle .).

Pavlov later built the basic law that he called "conditional reflex" based on a series of experiments he conducted earlier. In 1904, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for this work.

At the 15th International Biology Conference, the chairman commented: "Pavlov is undoubtedly the world's most physiologist."

Stanley Milgram's experiment of 'human conscience'

Stanley's experiments show that people can ignore their conscience to commit criminal acts when requested by their superiors.

For many generations, people have always asked each other between 'Humanity of good nature' (Manh Tu) and 'Humanity of evil nature' (Tuan Tu), which is right.

Remember last year, Douch, a Khmer Rouge official, director of the S21 re-education camp was sentenced to 30 years in prison for torturing and killing more than 15,000 people.

The fact that Douch, a man who could be called normal, became a murderer who tortured others horribly, is a problem that has been posed in many respects. One still remembers the unexpected view of the Jewish philosopher Hannah Arendt when reporting the Eichmann - a Nazi leader who is primarily responsible for the plan to kill Jews in Europe: She does not acknowledge Eichmann is like a devil, evil from nature, but considers him a normal person, placed in a special situation.

However, it is only a subjective philosophical viewpoint that needs to be verified by more objective studies. And this was experimentally verified by Stanley Milgram of Yale University.

In July 1961, psychologist Stanley Milgram conducted a series of controversial experiments to measure the level of 'evil' of individuals when they were asked to enforce orders against their conscience.

In his experiment, one person asked and one answered. Those who ask questions are his chosen volunteers. They are completely normal people, living happily, graciously with those around them. The questioner and respondent are isolated, not to see each other.

Milgram told the questioner that he was examining the effect of using penalties on acquiring knowledge. The questioner was given an electric shock generator and a questionnaire. If the answerer is wrong, the questioner will gradually increase the voltage as a punishment.

During the experiment, scientists made the questioners believe that the responders were actually being punished with electric shocks, but in fact the groans were just sounds from the recorder and programmed. to emit when the voltage reaches a preset level.

In the tape, to a voltage level, the respondent will say that he has heart disease and ask to stop the experiment. Almost all volunteers ask scientists if they should stop. But when reassured that they would not be held responsible if uncertainties occurred, most of them continued to use this punishment.

Scientists only agree to stop the experiment if the real questioner is determined to stop, expressing that they require to stop 5 times in a row (the questioner is not aware of this rule). If they don't stop or don't really decide to stop, the voltage will be pushed to the maximum: 450 Volt.

As a result, 65% of volunteers continue to use punishment, increasing the voltage to the maximum, though still hearing the moans and insistence of the questioner (actually the tape).

Milgram concluded, under the pressure of orders and when not being personally responsible, ordinary people can also do jobs that seriously affect the health and lives of others.

Recently, France 2 Television Station put up a program to repeat this experiment. And as a result, 70% of the participants laughed at least once when the victim groaned. Laughing reaction is seen as a way to reduce psychological stress. 70% said it while the victim complained of pain, as if to justify a cruel act, on behalf of a "legitimate" order . 17% use voice changes to help victims choose the correct answer. It is a form of discontent disobedience, such as reassuring conscience.

Sink in a wave of people willing to suppress their conscience to please a leader group (such as boss, government .), or a collective (like family, community, society) ), or an abstract law (like religion, doctrine .), there are very few people who "dare" to go in the opposite direction - protesting orders - to obey the call of conscience, of human love.