Science does not as yet have a full understanding of the universe. However, it is suggested that with increased technology and theoretical advances, it may be only decades before this is achieved. Do you agree this possible?

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Candidate Name:     Aisha Jakhura

Centre Number:       0960

Candidate Number:  005

Science does not as yet have a full understanding of the universe.  However, it is suggested that with increased technology and theoretical advances, it may be only decades before this is achieved.  Do you agree this possible?  What might be the consequences?

Hundreds of thousands of years ago Man discovered fire, the first of a series of discoveries that were to take place, changing the way of life of our species forever.  Through these discoveries humans developed what is known as science, defined literally meaning ‘a branch of knowledge requiring systematic study and method, especially one of those dealing with substances, animal and vegetable life, and natural laws; natural sciences’.  I believe that science has enough power to allow humans to have a larger understanding of the universe than any other living organism on this planet.  The extent to which humans have developed since the first discovery of fire serves to underline how much is still capable of being achieved.

However I do not consider that science can ever reach a full understanding of the universe.  Firstly one would have to establish what the universe is, and it is defined as ‘all existing things, including the earth and its creatures and all the heavenly bodies’.  In this sense, the universe is so huge that I feel the brain cannot really fathom it.  Despite our current knowledge of the solar system it has not been positively ascertained that there is no life on other planets – to determine the capacity of all existing beings in the universe would be virtually impossible in just a few decades as the planets are locates hundreds of lights years away from Earth itself.

Science has allowed humans to progress at an incredible rate in the past decades.  Unbelievable heights of knowledge have been reached through the use of technology and the development of scientific instruments and inventions.  In the past few years the world has seen the emergence of a new era; this is the era of science, technology and the Internet.  Computers are the main focal point of this time and the Internet serves as a tool to provide what seems like endless information on any topic under the sun for almost every single person to access.  Everything and everyone seems to be connected, wired or online in any possible way to the worldwide web.  Genetic engineering and biotechnology are ventures of only the past few years, nevertheless are already an essential feature in the field of medicine, aiding in the manufacture of many important medications and vaccines.  The Human Genome Project, due to be completed very soon, will fill the missing link in the knowledge of scientists today.  Before long the complete recipe of a human, the codes of every single gene in our body will be in the hands of science experts.

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One can imagine that if Man can reach such heights on Earth merely in a matter of years, his capabilities of understanding the universe can clearly not be undermined in any way.  This is not to say that discoveries in the past few years have only been limited to those on Earth – Man has been busy instigating his onslaught of discovery in the rest of the galaxy.  Countless projects and missions have been launched in recent times to gain a wider knowledge of the cosmos beyond our secure world.  I will give examples of some of these endeavours that ...

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