Many visionary scientists and writers of the 19th and 20th centuries. described their versions scientific and technological development humanity. I must say that none of them were particularly mistaken. In this collection, you will find brief overview advanced achievements from various fields of science.

1. For several years now, scientists around the world have been working on the creation bionic eyes that will help blind people regain their sight. At the moment, a 100% result is not guaranteed, but there are already certain achievements

2. reaches a qualitatively new level. Work is underway to improve the prosthesis, which is controlled using the power of thought transmitted through sensors in the form of electronic impulses, as in the body

3. The development of dental patches is in full swing in Japan. It's like a case for teeth. It protects against many harmful influences, including preventing the development of caries. The manufacturer promises to use only natural materials, however, it is unknown how this kind of insulation may affect the teeth themselves

4. Skin regeneration spray. This medicine is used to restore skin after severe burns. Its creators are Australian surgeons, Fiona Wood & Marie Stoner

5. Microchipping people. In the recent past, such services were offered to pet owners so that they could find out where the pet was at any time. Microchipping people is a violation human rights. For this, the client is asked to monitor his physical condition in order to provide medical or other type of assistance in a timely manner. However, it looks more like a prison

6. The 3D printer is step by step entering the daily life of various industries. This device works with different materials, from plaster to metal, from which the printer can create a three-dimensional model of almost any complexity

7. Unmanned aircraft . Of course, we have already seen this in some science fiction action movie. Stop, but this is reality. At the moment, the length of the “tiniest” drone is 15 cm. In the future, engineers promise to reduce the dimensions to the size of a fly

8. Cultured meat. The development belongs to scientists from Holland. The goal is to help patients with various muscle pathologies. At the moment, this material costs a lot of money

9. Prepare for scary stories. Brain stem cells, which are taken from embryos, were implanted into laboratory mice for experimental purposes. As a result, the experimental subjects developed several new functional parts of the brain. In general, scientists are exploring the healing properties of stem cells

10. Transgenic goats. While most of humanity opposes genetic modification, biotech companies continue to work. This time, a new product from Nexia Biotechnology is a goat with spider genes. From the milk of such a transgenic goat, something like a spider’s web is extracted, which is several times stronger than steel in terms of strength.

11. Pill with camera is an alternative traditional types studies of the gastrointestinal tract, such as, etc.

12. Soon, doctors may compete robots - anesthesiologists. Although, it is difficult to imagine how a robot can replace a living person in this area of ​​medicine

13. Wheelchair controlled by mental commands

14. Animal Cloning listed in the Red Book. True, it is not entirely clear what humanity is trying to achieve with this? Correct previously made mistakes, or hinder evolution

15. Tactical robot, working on organic raw materials. In addition, the highlight of the robot is that it is able to find fuel itself, thereby extending its operation time

Business partners are sometimes interested in each other's achievements. Anyone who has at least once acted purposefully at his workplace will always have something to say. The main thing is to understand what achievement is. Here we will answer a number of questions that specialists most often encounter. What are significant achievements? How to define and formulate basic, main, highest or outstanding achievements? Personal and professional achievements - what to write on a resume? What achievements are best to highlight? We answer in order.

Can you talk about your goals? professional activities? We hope you can - everyone site materials to help you. Goals tell what results a person wants to achieve. This is information about the future. The question about achievements involves talking about what results were achieved. This is information about the past, what has happened, what has already been achieved to date. If you have at least once set clear, precise goals for yourself and at least once successfully achieved them, getting the result that you originally planned, then you know the main thing. In general, an achievement is a previously planned result that has now been successfully achieved.

There are many similarities between work goals and work achievements. The significant difference is time. Goals reflect numbers and facts that need to be obtained over a certain period (or by a certain date), and are usually stated in the future tense. Achievements reflect figures and facts that were obtained by a specialist during a certain period of his activity, and are declared, as a rule, in the past tense. The principles for formulating messages about goals and achievements are very similar. Want an example? Let's take two sentences as an example. Assignment: try not to guess where the planned result is stated and where the result is obtained.

• by the third quarter of the current (2006) year, develop a technical warning system for concentrations in the air... above the maximum permissible standards;
• in the second quarter of the current (2006) year, a technical warning system was developed for concentrations in the air... above the maximum permissible standards.

Did you complete the task? No? Great. You probably have excellent knowledge of how to correctly formulate information about the achieved result. Now let's note the main thing.

When a question about achievements arises on a resume or in an interview, it means that they are asking you to talk about the results that you obtained in your work over a certain period of time. For example, at a previous workplace or in a previous position, during work on a certain topic or as a result of solving certain problems and tasks - depending on what specific period is asked about. Sometimes in a question about achievements such a period is not clearly indicated. This means that the requested period is your entire work activity.

Preparing a preliminary list of achievements

To understand what achievements you have today, you can do a simple thing. Take a list of previous goals that you set for yourself during the requested periods of professional activity. Select the achieved ones from them. Rewrite their wording in the past tense. The first part of the material is ready.

Now remember, have you ever, on the way to a planned result, received unplanned, but unexpectedly important results that are significant for someone or something? - for whom or what exactly is still indifferent. Happened? Then write them down too. The second part of the material is ready.

Essentially, you have a list of results obtained during different periods of your professional activity. Why are such lists declared? Your business partner is interested in how you can be useful for him, the organization, and target groups. What internal wealth and active resources are you the owner of? It is the active ones that have already allowed you to achieve certain results. Passive resources - which “theoretically” seem to exist, but are not actually used - are not always of interest to real business partners. Why?

From the fact that you possess, for example, some knowledge and skills, to your colleagues, clients, etc. neither hot nor cold. You own it, and it’s great. Your knowledge and skills become interesting when you can use them to achieve the desired result. Then you demonstrate the presence, quality and benefits of your resource - a resource that really exists, which you are happy to use and which is constantly being honed through experience. Then we're talking about about the specialized knowledge and key skills that allowed you to achieve what you are talking about. Information about achievements says much more than it might seem at first glance.

By listing your accomplishments and highlighting them on your resume or in an interview, you communicate two things to your current or potential business partner. About what results you were able to achieve yourself or helped others achieve (what hopes can be placed on you, in what ways you can be especially useful). About how activeresources (abilities, capabilities, knowledge, skills) you have to achieve similar or other results needed by the company.

Selecting significant ones

So, we have compiled a preliminary list of professional results. Now we will look for real achievements among them. Are you ready?..

What is it and what are the significant achievements? People assess the significance of a particular result in their work differently. Therefore, each specialist independently decides which of them is worth talking about. However, when talking about achievement, it is worth remembering two things.

1) . This should be the result which was useful for someone - important, necessary, having a certain meaning for a specific person, group of people or company as a whole.

Depending on who exactly the result of the work you are talking about brought more benefit (turned out to be more important), it can be classified into one of two categories:

• personal achievement;
• professional achievement.

2. Results that may, but have not yet, benefited other people. Even if we are talking about a unique discovery, knowledge, invention or creation of something that gives you a sense of professional pride and potentially has great value for others, but has not yet been claimed by them, has not yet brought them specific benefit, such a result at a given point in time should be called a personal achievement in professional activity. Remember that the question of achievement is about what has already been achieved. Here it is important not to fall into illusions, but to objectively assess what you really have today. In this case, you have something today that can help someone tomorrow. Key phrases: “you have” and “may help someone.” Despite the fact that such work results fall into the category of personal achievements, they can be an important competitive advantage for your potential partners.

We will be glad to see information about your professional achievements in the comments.

Humanity could not exist without constant progress, the discovery and implementation of new technologies, inventions and discoveries. Today, many of them are already outdated and are no longer needed, while others, like a wheel, still serve.

The whirlpool of time swallowed many discoveries, and some waited for their recognition and implementation only after tens and hundreds of years. Numerous questions have been asked to find out which inventions of mankind are the most significant.

One thing is clear - there is no consensus. Nevertheless, a universal ten of the greatest discoveries in human history was compiled.

Surprisingly, it turned out that the achievements modern science have not shaken the significance of some basic discoveries for most people. Most inventions are so old that it is impossible to accurately name their author.

Fire. It's hard to challenge first place. People discovered the beneficial properties of fire quite a long time ago. With its help it was possible to warm up and illuminate, change the taste properties of food. Initially, man dealt with “wild” fire arising from fires or volcanic eruptions. Fear gave way to curiosity, and the flame migrated into the cave. Over time, man learned to make fire himself; it became his constant companion, the basis of the economy, and protection from animals. As a result, many subsequent discoveries became possible only thanks to fire - ceramics, metallurgy, steam engines, etc. The path to making fire on their own was long - for years people kept home fires in their caves until they learned how to make it using friction. Two sticks of dry wood were taken, one of which had a hole. The first one was placed on the ground and pressed. The second one was inserted into the hole and began to be quickly rotated between the palms. The wood heated up and ignited. Of course, such a process required a certain skill. With the development of mankind, other ways of producing open fire arose.

Wheel. The Cart is closely related to this discovery. Scientists believe that the prototype of the wheel was the rollers that were placed under stones and tree trunks during transportation. Probably, then someone observant noticed the properties of rotating bodies. So, if the log-roller in the center was thinner than at the edges, then it moved more evenly, without deviating to the sides. People noticed this, and a device appeared, now called a stingray. Over time, the design changed; all that remained of the solid log were two rollers at the ends connected by an axis. Later they began to be made separately, fastening them together only later. And so the wheel was discovered, which immediately began to be used in the first carts. Over the next centuries and millennia, people worked hard to improve this important invention. At first, solid wheels were rigidly connected to the axle, rotating with it. But at the turn the heavy cart could break. And the wheels themselves were imperfect; they were originally made from a single piece of wood. This led to the fact that the first carts were rather slow and clumsy, and they were harnessed to strong but leisurely oxen. A major step in evolution was the invention of the wheel with a hub mounted on fixed axis. To reduce the weight of the wheel itself, they came up with the idea of ​​cutting cuts in it, strengthening it with transverse braces for rigidity. In the Stone Age, it was impossible to create a better option. But with the advent of metals in human life, wheels received metal rims and spokes, they were able to rotate tens of times faster and were no longer afraid of stones and wear. Fleet-footed horses began to be harnessed to the cart, and the speed increased noticeably. As a result, the wheel became a discovery that gave perhaps the most powerful impetus to the development of all technology.

Writing. Few would deny the significance of this invention for the entire development of mankind. Where would the development of our civilization go if at a certain stage we had not learned to record the necessary information with certain symbols? This made it possible to save it and transmit it. It is obvious that without writing our society in its current form simply would not exist. The first forms of symbols for transmitting information arose about 6 thousand years ago. Before this, people used more primitive signals - smoke, branches... Later, more complex methods of data transmission arose, for example, the Incas used knots for this. Laces of different colors were tied into various knots and attached to a stick. The addressee deciphered the message. This kind of writing was also practiced in China and Mongolia. However, writing itself appeared only with the invention of graphic symbols. Pictographic letters were first adopted. On them, in the form of a drawing, people schematically depicted phenomena, events, objects. Pictography was widespread back in the Stone Age, and it did not require much learning. But this type of writing was not suitable for conveying complex thoughts or abstract concepts. Over time, pictograms began to include conventional signs, denoting certain concepts. Thus, crossed hands symbolized exchange. Gradually, primitive pictograms became clearer and more defined, and writing became ideographic. Its highest form was hieroglyphic writing. It first originated in Ancient Egypt, then spread to Far East- Japan, China. Such symbols already made it possible to reflect any thoughts, even the most complex ones. But for an outsider it was very difficult to understand the secret, and for someone who wanted to learn to read and write, it was necessary to learn several thousand characters. As a result, only a few could master this skill. And only 4 thousand years ago the ancient Phoenicians came up with an alphabet of letters and sounds, which became a model for many other peoples. The Phoenicians began to use 22 consonant letters, each of which denoted a different sound. The new writing made it possible to convey any word graphically, and learning to write became much easier. Now it has become the property of the whole society, this fact contributed to the rapid spread of the alphabet throughout the world. It is believed that 80% of the alphabets common today have Phoenician roots. The last significant changes to the Phoenician letters were made by the Greeks - they began to denote not only consonants, but also vowel sounds with letters. The Greek alphabet, in turn, formed the basis of most European ones.

Paper. This invention is closely related to the previous one. The inventors of paper were the Chinese. It's hard to call this an accident. Since ancient times, China has been famous not only for its love of books, but also complex system bureaucratic management with constant reports. That is why there was a special need for inexpensive and compact writing material. Before the advent of paper, people wrote here on silk and bamboo tablets. However, these materials were poorly suited - silk was expensive, and bamboo was heavy and bulky. It is said that a whole cart was required to transport some works. The invention of paper came from the processing of silk cocoons. The women boiled them, and then, spreading them out on a mat, ground them until smooth. The water was filtered from it to obtain silk wool. After this treatment, a thin fibrous layer remained on the mats, which, after drying, turned into paper suitable for writing. Later, they began to use rejected cocoons for its targeted preparation. This paper was called cotton paper and was quite expensive. Over time, the question arose - is it possible to make paper not only from silk? Or any fibrous raw material, preferably of plant origin, is suitable for these purposes. History says that in 105, a certain official Cai Lun was able to create new variety paper from old fishing nets. Its quality was comparable to silk, and the price was much lower. This discovery became important both for the country and for the entire civilization. People received high-quality and accessible writing material, an equivalent replacement for which has never been found. The following centuries brought several important improvements to papermaking technology, and the process itself began to develop rapidly. In the 4th century, paper finally replaced bamboo planks; it soon became known that production was possible from cheap plant materials - tree bark, bamboo and reed. This was especially important, because bamboo grows in huge quantities in China. Production secrets were kept in the strictest confidence for several centuries. But in 751, some Chinese, during a clash with the Arabs, were captured by them. So the secret became known to the Arabs, who for five centuries profitably sold paper to Europe. In 1154, paper production was established in Italy, and soon the skill was mastered in Germany and England. In subsequent centuries, paper became widespread, conquering ever new areas of application. Its significance is so great that our era is even sometimes called the “paper era.”

Gunpowder and firearms. This European discovery played a role huge role in the history of mankind. Many people knew how to make an explosive mixture; Europeans were the last of the civilized peoples who learned how to do it. But it was they who were able to derive practical benefit from this discovery. The first consequences of the invention of gunpowder were the development firearms and a revolution in military affairs. Social changes followed - invincible knights in armor retreated before the fire of cannons and rifles. Feudal society received a strong blow from which it could no longer recover. As a result, powerful centralized states. Gunpowder itself was invented in China many centuries before its appearance in Europe. An important component of the powder was saltpeter, which in some areas of the country was generally found in its native form, resembling snow. Setting fire to a mixture of saltpeter and coal, the Chinese began to observe small outbreaks. At the turn of the 5th and 6th centuries, the properties of saltpeter were first described by the Chinese physician Tao Hung-ching. Since then, this substance has also been used as a component of some medications. The appearance of the first sample of gunpowder is attributed to the alchemist Sun Sy-miao, who prepared a mixture of sulfur and saltpeter, adding pieces of locust wood to them. When heated, a strong flash of flame occurred, which was recorded by the scientist in his treatise “Dan Jing”. The composition of the gunpowder was later improved by his colleagues, who empirically established three main components - potassium nitrate, sulfur and coal. The medieval Chinese could not scientifically explain the effects of the explosion, but soon adapted to use gunpowder for military purposes. However, this did not have a revolutionary effect. The fact is that the mixture was prepared from unrefined components, which only gave an incendiary effect. Only in XII-XIII centuries The Chinese created weapons that resembled firearms, and the rocket and firecracker were also invented. Soon the Mongols and Arabs learned the secret, and from them the Europeans. The secondary discovery of gunpowder is attributed to the monk Berthold Schwartz, who began to grind a crushed mixture of saltpeter, coal and sulfur in a mortar. The explosion singed the tester's beard, but the idea came into his head that such energy could be used to throw stones. At first, the gunpowder was floury, and it was inconvenient to use, since the powder stuck to the walls of the barrels. After this, they noticed that it was much more convenient to use gunpowder in lumps and grains. This also produced more gases when ignited.

Communication means - telephone, telegraph, radio, Internet and others. Even 150 years ago, the only way to exchange information between Europe and England, America and the colonies was only by steamship mail. People learned about what was happening in other countries with a delay of weeks and even months. So, news from Europe to America took at least 2 weeks. That is why the advent of the telegraph radically solved this problem. As a result, a technical innovation appeared in all corners of the planet, allowing news from one hemisphere to reach the other in a matter of hours and minutes. During the day, interested parties received business and political news, stock reports. The telegraph made it possible to transmit written messages over distances. But soon the inventors thought about a new means of communication that could transmit sounds over any distance. human voice or music. The first experiments on this issue were carried out in 1837 by the American physicist Page. His simple but clear experiments proved that it was in principle possible to transmit sound using electricity. A series of subsequent experiments, discoveries and implementations led to the appearance of the telephone, television, Internet and others in our lives today. modern means communications that revolutionized the life of society.

Automobile. Like some of the greatest inventions before it, the automobile not only influenced its era, but also spawned a new one. This discovery is not limited to the transport sector alone. The automobile shaped modern industry, spawned new industries, and reshaped manufacturing itself. It has become massive and continuous. Even the planet has changed - now it is surrounded by millions of kilometers of roads, and the ecology has deteriorated. And even human psychology has become different. Today, the influence of the car is so multifaceted that it is present in all spheres of human life. There were many glorious pages in the history of the invention, but the most interesting one dates back to the first years of its existence. In general, the speed with which the car has reached its maturity cannot fail to impress. In just a quarter of a century, an unreliable toy has turned into a massive and popular vehicle. There are now about a billion cars in the world. The main features of a modern car were formed 100 years ago. The predecessor of the gasoline car was the steam car. Back in 1769, the Frenchman Cunu created a steam cart that could transport up to 3 tons of cargo, moving, however, at a speed of up to 4 km/h. The machine was clumsy, and working with the boiler was difficult and dangerous. But the idea of ​​moving by steam captivated followers. In 1803, Trivaitik built the first steam car in England, which could carry up to 10 passengers and accelerate to 15 km/h. London onlookers were delighted! The automobile in the modern sense appeared only with the discovery of the internal combustion engine. In 1864, a vehicle by the Austrian Marcus was born, which was driven by a gasoline engine. But the glory of the official inventors of the car went to two Germans - Daimler and Benz. The latter was the owner of a factory producing two-stroke gas engines. There were enough funds for leisure and the development of their own cars. In 1891, the owner of a rubber products factory, Edouard Michelin, invented a removable pneumatic tire for a bicycle, and 4 years later tires began to be produced for cars. In the same 1895, the tires were tested during racing, although they were constantly punctured, but it became clear that they give cars a smooth ride, making the ride more comfortable.

Light bulb. And this invention appeared in our lives recently, in late XIX century. First, lighting appeared on city streets, and then it entered residential buildings. Today it is difficult to imagine the life of a civilized person without electric light. This discovery had enormous consequences. Electricity revolutionized the energy sector, forcing industry to change significantly. In the 19th century, two types of light bulbs became widespread - arc and incandescent lamps. The first to appear were arc lamps, the glow of which was based on a phenomenon called a voltaic arc. If you connect two wires connected to a strong current and then move them apart, a glow will appear between their ends. This phenomenon was first observed by the Russian scientist Vasily Petrov in 1803, and the Englishman Devi described such an effect only in 1810. The use of a voltaic arc as a source of illumination was described by both scientists. However, arc lamps had an inconvenience - as the electrodes burned out, they had to be constantly moved towards each other. Exceeding the distance between them entailed a flickering of light. In 1844, the Frenchman Foucault developed the first arc lamp in which the length of the arc could be adjusted manually. Just 4 years later, this invention was used to illuminate one of the squares in Paris. In 1876, the Russian engineer Yablochkov improved the design - the electrodes, replaced by coals, were already located parallel to each other, and the distance between the ends always remained the same. In 1879, the American inventor Edison set about improving the design. He came to the conclusion that for a light bulb to glow for a long time and brightly, a suitable material for the filament was needed, as well as creating a rarefied space around it. Edison carried out a lot of experiments on a grand scale; it is estimated that at least 6 thousand different compounds were tested. The research cost the American 100 thousand dollars. Edison gradually began to use metals for thread, eventually settling on charred bamboo fibers. As a result, in the presence of 3 thousand spectators, the inventor publicly demonstrated the electric light bulbs he had developed, illuminating not only his house, but also several neighboring streets. Edison's light bulb was the first to have a long life and be suitable for mass production.

Antibiotics. This place is given to wonderful medicines, in particular, penicillin. Antibiotics became one of the main discoveries of the last century, revolutionizing medicine. Today, not everyone realizes how much they owe to such medicinal drugs. Many will be surprised to learn that even 80 years ago, tens of thousands of people died from dysentery, pneumonia was a deadly disease, sepsis threatened the death of almost all surgical patients, typhus was dangerous and difficult to cure, and pneumonic plague sounded like a death sentence. But all these terrible diseases, like others that were previously incurable (tuberculosis), were defeated by antibiotics. The drugs had a significant impact on military medicine. Previously, most of the soldiers died not from bullets at all, but from festering wounds. After all, millions of cocci bacteria penetrated there, causing pus, sepsis, and gangrene. The most that the surgeon could do was amputate the affected part of the body. It turned out that it is possible to fight dangerous microorganisms with the help of their own brothers. Some of them, in the process of their life activity, release substances that can destroy other microbes. This idea appeared back in the 19th century. Louis Pasteur discovered that bacilli anthrax die under the influence of some other microbes. Over time, experiments and discoveries gave the world penicillin. For seasoned field surgeons, this medicine became a true miracle. The most hopeless patients got back on their feet, having overcome blood poisoning or pneumonia. The discovery and creation of penicillin is considered one of the most significant discoveries in the history of all medicine, giving a huge impetus to its development.

Sail and ship. The sail arose in human life a long time ago, when there was a desire to go to sea and build boats for this. The first sail was an ordinary animal skin. The sailor had to hold it with his hands and constantly orient it relative to the wind. It is unknown when people came up with the idea of ​​using masts and yards, but already on the most ancient images of ships from the time of the Egyptian queen Hatshepsut, various devices for working with sails and rigging are visible. Thus, it is clear that the sail originated in prehistoric times. It is believed that the first large sailing ships appeared in Egypt, and the Nile became the first navigable river. Every year the mighty river overflowed, cutting off cities and regions from each other. So the Egyptians had to master shipping. At that time, ships played a much larger role in the economic life of the country than carts on wheels. One of the first types of ships is the barque, which is more than 7 thousand years old. Its models have come to us from temples. Since there was little wood in Egypt for the construction of the first ships, papyrus was used for these purposes. Its features determined the design and shape of the ships. They were a crescent-shaped boat, knitted from bundles of papyrus, with the bow and stern curved upward. The hull of the vessel, for strength, was tied together with cables. Over time, trade with the Phoenicians gave the country Lebanese cedar, and the tree became firmly established in shipbuilding. Compositions from 5 thousand years ago give reason to believe. That then the Egyptians used a straight sail mounted on a two-legged mast. It was possible to sail only downwind, and if there was a crosswind, the mast was quickly removed. About 4,600 years ago, the single-legged mast began to be used, which is still used today. It became easier for the ship to walk, it gained the ability to maneuver. However, at that time the rectangular sail was very unreliable, and moreover, it could only be used with a tailwind. So it turned out that the main engine of the ship at that time was the muscular power of the rowers. Then the maximum speed of the ships of the pharaohs was 12 km/h. Merchant ships traveled mainly along the coast, without going far out to sea. The next step in the development of ships was made by the Phoenicians, who initially had excellent building material. 5 thousand years ago, with the beginning of the development of maritime trade, the Phoenicians began to build ships. Moreover, their sea vessels initially had design features from boats. Stiffening ribs, covered with boards on top, were installed on the single shafts. The Phoenicians may have been inspired to think about such a design by animal skeletons. In fact, this is how the first frames appeared, which are still used today. It was the Phoenicians who created the first keel ship. At first, two trunks connected at an angle acted as the keel. This gave the ships more stability, becoming the basis for the future development of shipbuilding and determining the appearance of all future ships.

This photo collection contains the most famous achievements of humanity

Mariana Trench: maximum depth

The Trieste bathyscaphe was designed by Swiss scientist Auguste Piccard based on his previous design of the FNRS-2, the world's first bathyscaphe. Trieste is the name of the Italian city where the main work on its creation was carried out. From 1953 to 1957, it made several dives in the Mediterranean Sea, including setting a depth record at that time of 3,150 meters. In 1958, this device was purchased by the US Navy. After the purchase, it was modified - a stronger and more durable gondola was installed. Despite the purchase, the main pilot and technician of the device in 1958-1960 remained Jacques Piccard, the son of the device's designer, Auguste.

Jean Piccard (center) and Lieutenant Don Walsh during the record dive. Mariana Trench, January 23, 1960:

The deepest depression known on Earth was named after nearby Mariana Islands. Its depth was first measured in 1875 using the British ship Challenger, after which the deepest point of the trench was named. Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh were the first to dive into the abyss on January 23, 1960. On the bathyscaphe "Trieste"they reached 10,911 m.

Only 52 years later, on March 26, 2012, their record was repeated by James Cameron, who plunged alone into the Challenger Abyss. The Canadian film director dived on the Deepsea Challenger bathyscaphe, during which he produced 3D filming, which formed the basis of documentary film National Geographic.

Everest: highest peak

The highest point on Earth was conquered by man 7 years earlier than the lowest. 60 years ago, on May 29, 1953, for the first time in history, a person set foot on Mount Chomolungma, 8,848 meters high. The honor of becoming the discoverers fell to New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay. They spent only 15 minutes on the “roof of the world,” but these “15 minutes of fame” forever inscribed their names in history. Hillary and Norgay reached the summit on the ninth British expedition to the summit of Everest. By the way, Chomolungma also owes its more common name to the British, which the peak received in honor of the Welsh geographer and surveyor George Everest.

New Zealander Edmund Hillary (left) and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay are the first people on Earth to conquer Everest. Photo from 1953:

Almost two meters tall, New Zealander Edmund Hillary photographed a diminutive Sherpa on a snow dome with a raised ice ax decorated with flags of the UN, Great Britain, Nepal and India. Climbers using oxygen devices, May 29, 1953.

Moon: the furthest place from Earth where man has been

The crew of Apollo 11, during the flight of which in July 1969 earthlings first landed on the Moon. From left to right: Neil Armstrong (left), Buzz Aldrin (right) and Michael Collins. During Neil and Buzz's landing on the moon's surface, Michael piloted the command module in orbit around the Moon:

On July 21, 1969, at 02:56:20 GMT, Neil Armstrong committed small step, which became a giant leap for all of humanity, descending the stairs from the Apollo 11 lander to the lunar surface. The second guest of the Earth satellite was Edwin Aldrin, who joined the flight captain 15 minutes later.

In total, they roamed the lunar expanses for 2 hours, 31 minutes and 40 seconds. During this time, the astronauts installed the American flag and instruments necessary for scientific experiments, and also collected samples of lunar soil. After 21 hours and 36 minutes spent on the surface of the Moon and inside the landing module, the crew left the only astronomical object outside our planet that a person had set foot on. In total, as part of the Apollo lunar mission program, 12 astronauts visited the surface of the Earth’s satellite.

Kola superdeep: the deepest well made by man

On May 24, 1970, drilling began for the deepest “hole” ever made by man. As part of the Soviet scientific program, a well was drilled in the Murmansk region (10 km from the city of Zapolyarny), which reached a record level of 12,262 meters in 1990.

Kola ultra-deep well. First stage drilling (depth 7,600 m), 1974:

The grandiose project lasted until 1992. Only the first 7 km of drilling took about 7 years. In 1983, the drill for the first time entered the earth's rocks at 12 km. Later, due to accidents and technical difficulties, work had to be suspended. It was not until 1990 that the final world drilling record was set. With the help of the Kola Superdeep, scientists wanted to study the most ancient rocks of our planet using the example of the granite Baltic shield.

The Kola Superdeep is sometimes called the “well to hell.” There is a legend at a depth of about 12 thousand meters, the microphones of scientists recorded the screams and moans of people. This is, of course, a myth, although during drilling, phenomena actually occurred for which scientists could not find an explanation.

Kola superdeep. Photo from 2007. At the moment, the facility is abandoned, the building is virtually destroyed, and the well itself is welded shut:

Felix Baumgartner's flight: the highest jump in history

On October 14, 2012, Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner made the highest jump in history.jumping from a 39-kilometer height(39.45 thousand meters). The 43-year-old athlete reached this mark in 2 hours and 16 minutes in a special capsule. During his fall, Felix exceeded the speed of sound, reaching a speed of 1357.6 kilometers per hour.

He jumped in a spacesuit and for the first time, without the help of aircraft, he was in free fall for 4 minutes 19 seconds. This “sidereal” time could have been fatal for Baumgartner in the event of depressurization, but, fortunately, the experiment ended successfully. The extreme jump, which was broadcast live, was watched by about 8 million people.

Garrett McNamara: conquering the biggest wave

The largest wave, the height of a 10-story building, was conquered by Hawaiian surfer Garrett McNamara. He "saddled"30-meter wall of wateroff the Portuguese coast near the small town of Nazare on January 29, 2013. Garrett McNamara conquers the 100-foot storm:

A giant swell has formed over an underwater canyon, which has a reputation for producing the world's highest waves. This is not the first world record set by the 45-year-old athlete. In 2013, Garrett broke his own world record, set in November 2011 on the same Portuguese coast. Then the Hawaiian daredevil conquered a wave 24 meters high.

Garrett McNamara conquers the 100-foot storm:

Burj Khalifa: conquering the world's tallest skyscraper

While all the main natural peaks have been conquered, the French climber Alain Robert took on the peaks created by man. And he entered the Guinness Book of Records as a conqueror of skyscrapers. Spider-Man has climbed more than 70 tallest buildings in the world, including the Empire State Building (New York), the Eiffel Tower (Paris), the Petronas Towers (Kuala Lumpur), Taipei 101 (Taipei) and main building of Moscow State University (Moscow).

Alain Robert, nicknamed Spider-Man, conquers the world's tallest building, Burj Khalifa (828 m):

The first climber managed to climb the tallest building in the world, the 828-meter Burj Khalifa skyscraper.The ascent, which took place on March 28, 2011, took more than 6 hours. Alain Robert is famous for performing his stunts without equipment, but this time he complied with the organizers' requirement and used insurance. Also read the article “Kingdom Tower - life at an altitude of 1 km.”

In a recent post, the billionaire admitted that his new favorite book is the historical bestseller Enlightenment Now by scientist and Harvard professor Steven Pinker. The book was published in February of this year, and Gates managed to get a copy before it hit the shelves.

In his blog, the billionaire talked about which ideas intrigued him the most and offered readers the five most interesting, in his opinion, facts from the book.

“No matter how you measure human well-being, the human species has made impressive progress, but no one talks about it.”

Enlightenment Now, Steven Pinker (2018)
Despite all the negativity that we constantly see in the news, the scientist’s conclusions are amazing. It proves that, by any objective measure, people are safer today than at any time in history.

“I often talk about reducing poverty and child deaths because it is such an obvious, clear indicator of progress. Pinker looks at facts that are not at all obvious.”

1. Time spent doing laundry fell from 11.5 hours per week in 1920 to one and a half hours in 2014

"Such a detail, of course, sounds like a small thing in the 'grand scheme of things,'" Gates writes in his blog. But technological innovations in the domestic sphere have given humanity - in particular, its fair half - a huge amount of free time and contributed to overcoming the gender division of labor.
Pinker in his book calls the washing machine greatest invention industrial revolution - after all, it freed up a person a whole working day a week. Overall, he estimates that the time people spend cleaning their home has fallen from 58 hours a week at the beginning of the 20th century to 15 hours today.

2. Today you have almost no risk of dying at work.

In 1929, the number of deaths from work incidents in the United States was 20 thousand human lives per year. Today this figure has fallen 4 times - to 5 thousand, despite the fact that the population has increased 2.5 times.
Early reforms such as the introduction of employer liability and workers' compensation were key to progress in this direction. Exactly this legal practice, which has now spread throughout the world, has stimulated the creation of safer workplaces.

3. The likelihood of dying from lightning is 37 times lower than a hundred years ago

"Humanity's overcoming of everyday danger is a vastly underappreciated form of progress," Pinker writes. And the risk of dying from a lightning strike is just the most obvious example.
After all, this danger has practically disappeared from our lives not because there are fewer thunderstorms today, but because humanity today has the necessary technologies to monitor the weather. Improved safety education also plays a role, as do the fact that many more people now live in cities.

4. Average Worldwide IQ rises by three points every ten years

The brains of younger generations today are developing faster thanks to good nutrition and clean environment. Pinker also points to great demand analytical thinking in everyday life.
To understand what he means, just think about how often and in what quantities we process information when checking the home screen of our phone or looking at the map on the subway. Despite some negative effects, such as addiction to devices, processing a large amount of information encourages abstract thinking With young age, and it makes us smarter.

5. War became illegal

This idea seems obvious, but until the creation of the UN in 1945, there was not a single constitutional provision or even international norm that states that countries could not go to war with each other if it was to their advantage.
Conflicts, of course, have not gone away. However, attitudes towards the war have changed. If a couple of centuries ago it was considered business as usual, and the risk of ending up on the battlefield was very great, then today in people’s minds war is something unacceptable. But such an attitude is the exception rather than the norm in history.