Science at the turn of centuries

A hundred years ago, as the nineteenth century drew to a close, scientists around the world were satisfied that they had arrived at an accurate picture of the physical world. But late in the final decade, a few curiosities came to light. Roentgen discovered rays that passed through flesh; because they were unexplained, he called them X rays. Two months later, Henri Becquerel accidentally found that a piece of uranium ore emitted something that fogged photographic plates. And the electron, the carrier of electricity, was discovered in 1897.

Yet on the whole, physicists remained calm, expecting that these oddities would eventually be explained by existing theory. No one would have predicted that within five years their complacent view of the world would be shockingly upended, producing an entirely new conception of the universe and en­tirely new technologies that would transform daily life in the twentieth century in unimaginable ways. So it is fair to say that even the most informed scientists, standing on the threshold of the twentieth century, had no idea what was to come.

Now the situation is oddly similar. Once again, physicists believe the physical world has been explained, and that no further revolutions lie ahead. Because of prior history, they no longer express this view publicly, but they think it just the same. Some observers have even gone so far as to argue that science as a discipline has finished its work; that there is nothing important left for science to discover.

But just as the late nineteenth century gave hints of what was to come, so the late twentieth century also provides some clues to the future. One of the most important is the interest in so-called quantum technology. This is an effort on many fronts to create a new technology that utilizes the funda­mental nature of subatomic reality, and it promises to revolu­tionize our ideas of what is possible.

Quantum technology flatly contradicts our common sense ideas of how the world works. It posits a world where com­puters operate without being turned on and objects are found without looking for them. An unimaginably powerful com­puter can be built from a single molecule. Information moves instantly between two points, without wires or networks. Distant objects are examined without any contact. Computers do their calculations in other universes. And teleportation — " Beam me up, Scotty" — is ordinary and used in many dif­ferent ways.

In the 1990s, research in quantum technology began to show results. In 1995, quantum ultrasecure messages were sent over a distance of eight miles, suggesting that a quantum Internet would be built in the coming century. In Los Alamos, physicists measured the thickness of a human hair using laser light that was never actually shone on the hair, but only might have been. This bizarre, " counterfactual" result initiated a new field of interaction-free detection: what has been called " finding something without looking."

These quantum curiosities, defying logic and common sense, have received little attention from the public, but they will. According to some estimates, in the coming decades of the 21^st century, the majority of physicists around the world will work in some aspect of quantum technology.

Part II

Time and Tenses

Skim the text again paying special attention to the parts in bold and answer the question.

Do the sentences with parts in bold refer to the present, past, or future?

Ask questions to the sentences with parts in bold.

· yes/no questions;

· “wh-” questions (beginning with when, where, why);

· questions to the subject of the sentences.

Find the sentences in the Present Simple and the Past Simple. What feature distinguishes questions in the Simple from those in other tenses?

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