Sometimes simple scientific advances in one field can have value far beyond their intended use. Many of these advances can change the world and possibly help solve our biggest problems. One example is 75-years-old this year and was made at the onset of the World War II.
Many people around the world use a microwave oven every day, not knowing that a crucial part of it was once a top military secret.
In 1940, the situation in Europe was desperate. German forces were preparing for the invasion of Britain while U-boats were decimating the convoys bringing supplies from the United States.
In September of that year, a high-level British scientific delegation traveled to the U.S. to ask for help in manufacturing several secret inventions, including a revolutionary vacuum tube that could create microwave emissions, essential for building more efficient radars.
According to Larry Schuette of the U.S. Office of Naval Research, the result was a revolutionary breakthrough.
"The advantage of microwave radar, which allowed the use of parabolic antennas that we see today, fundamentally changed radar from the lower frequencies and all the advantages that going to the higher frequency provided," Schuette said.
A new tube called cavity magnetron enabled radar operators to distinguish between individual aircraft as well as submerged submarines, helping to change the military situation.
But just as it changed the course of the war, the magnetron soon changed the course of cooking around the world, becoming the primary component of today's microwave oven.
A group of British, American and Canadian civil and military scientists recently gathered in Washington to commemorate the mission that brought military secrets to the U.S. They reconfirmed their commitment to cooperation in search for new technologies with potential application to everyday life.
Rear Admiral Mathias Winter, Chief of Naval Research, said that scientists are collaborating in many areas, often just to improve efficiency.
"We're also working in the photonics and high energy, energy density and directed energy research areas, not only for weapons but for energy storage, energy engagement for our ships, for our shore facilities, to bring ourselves to a more efficient footprint."
Hopefully, one of those inventions will change the course of global warming, the same way the cavity magnetron impacted the course of World War II.
Vocabulary
parabolic:抛物线的
antenna:[电讯] 天线
2017届高考英语阅读素材:美文名篇欣赏:“我有一个梦想”
高考英语作文素材:白宫(The White House)(2)作文素材
2017届高考英语牛津译林版选修8总复习限时训练《Unit 4 Films and film events》8-4(江苏专用)
2017年高考英语一轮复习课件13:Unit 3《The Million Pound Bank Note(新人教版必修3)
2017年高考英语一轮复习课件15:Unit 5《Canada—“The True North”(新人教版必修3)
高考英语作文素材:不要放弃(Dont Give Up)作文素材
2017届高考英语阅读素材:人生宝典:八句话人生
高考英语作文素材:Youcan’tbeanAppleLovedb作文素材
2017届高考英语一轮复习课时作业40:Unit 5《Meeting your ancestors》(新人教版选修8浙江专用)
2017届高考英语阅读素材:别错过机会
2017年高考英语一轮复习课件8:Unit 3《Computers》(新人教版必修2)
高考英语作文素材:Wuhan
2017届高考英语一轮总复习语法专题复习课件:2.冠词
2017届高考英语阅读素材:请记住,你是与众不同的
2017届高考英语阅读素材:女性必读:成为极品女人的十大要素
高考英语作文素材:WhenWillItStop作文素材
高考英语作文素材:长假好不好?谈谈你的看法(Week-long Holidays,Good or BadWhat作文素材
2017年高考英语一轮复习课件14:Unit 4《Astronomy the science of the stars(新人教版必修3)
2017届高考英语一轮总复习语法专题复习课件:13.定语从句
高考英语作文素材:长江三峡(The Three Gorges of the Yangtze River)作文素材
高考英语作文素材:当海啸突然发生的时候(When the Ocean Suddenly Disappeared)作文素材
2017届高考英语阅读素材:如何在群体中表现得更加活跃
2017届高考英语阅读素材:如何增强自己的意志力
高考英语作文素材:当好班长(Being a Monitor)作文素材
2017年高考英语一轮复习课件5:Unit 5《Nelson Mandela—a modern hero》(新人教版必修1)
2017届高考英语一轮总复习语法专题复习课件:12.名词性从句
2017届高考英语阅读素材:年轻时一定要知道的15件事
2017届高考英语阅读素材:你相信事出皆有因吗?
2017年高考英语一轮复习课件3:Unit 3《Travel journal》(新人教版必修1)
法国男子出轨遭泄露 怒告优步索赔3亿元