There is a ray that radiates to mankind in these dark times.
Covid-19 pandemic troubled us in many ways. At home, it bores us to death due to strict government protocol to stay indoors to prevent the widespread of the virus. Thanks to the entertainment brought by Netflix and K-dramas that kills our boredom due to our lengthy stagnation at home. Outside our abode, the virus rocks millions of employments, business establishments, hospitals, schools and many other institutions. Thanks to the generosity of many for it helps to lessen the burden of the affected individuals.
No matter how grueling these days to all of us, there is a ray of hope that radiates to the world. The pandemic surely brings the bad of times, but humanity’s resolve to surmount the challenges brings the good in these dark times. Thanks to the hope that Science brings!
Understanding the world makes people more innovative through discovering every tiny part that makes it up. The discovery of cathode-ray tube led to a very important scientific discovery--- the electron. Out of a single scientific idea, this has sparked the inventions of many technologies. The cathode-ray tube slowly evolved into the television which is widely-used nowadays to kill our boredom for being stuck at home for a lengthy period of time. Its discovery is also instrumental in disseminating news to keep us informed about the pandemic, its hazards, and the protection that we can do.
“On the technological front, the cathode ray tube would slowly evolve into the television (which is constructed from a cathode ray tube with the electron beam deflected in ways that produce an image on a screen) and, eventually, into many sorts of image monitors,” said the Science and Technology on Fast Forward article which is published at the Understanding Science website of the University of California Museum of Paleontology.
Meanwhile, German physicist Wilhem Roentgen, discovered in 1895 that cathode-ray tube is producing rays without passing through the bone. Thus, he discovered x-ray, a form of electromagnetic radiation which eventually evolved into the CT scan machine that are important to non-invasive medical diagnoses.
How did Roentgen came up with such a landmark discovery? The aforesaid article from the Understanding Science website says, “In 1895, the German physicist Wilhem Roentgen noticed that his cathode ray tube seemed to be producing some other sort of ray in addition to the lights inside the tube. These new rays were invisible but caused a screen in his laboratory to light up. He tried to block the rays, but they passed right through paper, copper, and aluminum, but not lead. And not bone. Roentgen noticed that the rays revealed the faint shadow of the bones in his hand!”
Having these machines today is indeed vital to humankind’s response to pandemic. Hospitals can use X-Ray and CT Scan machines to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus. Some hospitals posed a protocol to check every incoming patient for any respiratory problem, especially pneumonia, that could be caused by Covid-19. Once determined to have a respiratory ailment due to Covid-19, these patients are referred to hospitals concentrating to Covid-19 response. Such protocol will protect the medical frontliners and patients with non-Covid conditions who are identified as immunocompromised.
From the development of cathode ray, crystallography emerged. Now that the whole world is suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic, doctors and nurses are using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), a variation of PCR, that detects the virus’ genetic material and amusingly it was made through the development of x-ray crystallography. From a tiny particle, nobody thought that it would lead to great inventions that will make life much easier.
“Perhaps most notably, Rosalind Franklin used X-ray crystallography to help uncover the structure of the key molecule of life: DNA. Understanding the structure of DNA (along with many other inputs) eventually allowed biologists to develop a quick and easy method for copying very small amounts of DNA, known as PCR — the polymerase chain reaction,” still according to Science and Technology on Fast Forward article.
The utility of cathode ray has really grown over the years and will keep on growing. Life has been made greater than before with the advent of cathode ray-based technologies that respond to our home and medical needs. This goes to show that improving the technology based on cathode ray means improving the lives of every human being. It seems like such ray keeps on finding solutions to every adversity that humans face. Throughout the years, the purpose of every human being has evolved, so as the technology that banks on cathode ray.
This is the unraveling of the ray that lights the world during these gloomy times.
Sources:
Jawerth, Nicole. "How is the COVID-19 virus detected using real time RT–PCR?." Infectious Diseases. IAEA Bulletin. Vol. 61-2. 5 Retrieved: January 2021 <https://www.iaea.org/bulletin/infectious-diseases/how-is-the-covid-19-virus-detected-using-real-time-rt-pcr#:~:text=RT%E2%80%93PCR%20is%20a%20variation,RT%2C%20to%20allow%20for%20amplification.&text=Since%20the%20COVID%2D19%20virus,is%20used%20to%20detect%20it.>
"Science and Technology on Fast Forward." Understanding Science. University of California Museum of Paleontology. Retrieved: 3 January 2021 <https://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/0_0_0/%3C?%20echo%20$baseURL;%20?%3E/whathassciencedone_03>
U.S. Food & Drug Association. (2020, July 16). Coronavirus Testing Basics . Retrieved from FDA: https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/coronavirus-testing-basics
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