A Small micron sized sub microscopic organism which as mutated and killed about 1.7 lakh people all over the world and as infected 24lakh people and counting. So what led to the downfall of humanity in front of a small virus like corona, was it the technology which failed to warn us or the nature just wanted to give a taste of what we were doing to her?
Since the first report of corona virus in November last year, technology as always been our side in hep us fight the pandemic As China initiated its response to the virus, it leaned on its strong technology sector and specifically artificial intelligence (AI), data science, and technology to track and fight the pandemic while tech leaders, including Alibaba, Baidu, Huawei and more accelerated their company's healthcare initiatives. A variety of new devices and methodologies have been developed and implemented to aid in the fight against Coronavirus with the hope that they will give an edge over the disease to contain, and eventually eliminate it.
Here are some of the ways technology is helping the humanity to tackle the spread of virus.
1. AI to identify, track and forecast outbreaks
The better we can track the virus, the better we can fight it. By analysing news reports, social media platforms, and government documents, AI can learn to detect an outbreak. Tracking infectious disease risks by using AI is exactly the service Canadian start up BlueDot provides. In fact, the BlueDot’s AI warned of the threat several days before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the World Health Organization issued their public warnings. Artificial intelligence Company Infer vision launched a coronavirus AI solution that helps front-line healthcare workers detect and monitor the disease efficiently. Imaging departments in healthcare facilities are being taxed with the increased workload created by the virus.
The above picture gives the location of the COVID-19 patients in the neighbourhood and helps the person who isn’t infected to stay away from that place. It also gives an insight to the government on where to take strict actions and seal down the place, so that they can contain the spread of the virus.
2. Drones deliver medical supplies
One of the safest and fastest ways to get medical supplies where they need to go during a disease outbreak is with drone delivery. Drones or unmanned aerial vehicles are nowadays used as major transportation of essential goods though it was planned by amazon to deliver the goods, interestingly it is now that the usage of drones have increases even in developing countries like India. The operator can adjust the location of the customer and send a drone while he is siting about 10km away (distance increases with different drones).
3. ROBOTS
Multi-axle automated machines or robots are used widely in every place you name it. In this pandemic they are helping the COVID-19 warriors a lot, for an instance a police man can use a BOT as a surveillance system and warning machine and help people stay in their homes, it can also be used to deliver essential supplies to the victims who are home quarantined. The BOT’s also equip thermal sensors so that they can check the body temperature of the person who is infected with the virus
4. Chatbots
Amidst the spread of the virus, there is another virus which spreads faster than corona, you guessed it right, rumors. To stop the spread of the rumors and fake information from social media or sometimes humorously called “WhatsApp university”, the government have created chatbots which can help people verify the information and stop spreading fake news
As we saw some of the ways countries are using technology to tackle this virus, the same tech betrayed us while it spread in the late December 2019. How here’s the story.
While U.S government funded Wuhan lab to find a vaccine for HIV-AIDS. The lab which is not tech equipped used the corona virus to find the vaccine, since corona virus as similar genome to that of the HIV virus it was used. There is a lot of news regarding the spread from this lab due to leak in the lab and how they couldn’t contain the virus. Though the institute, located quite close to the Wuhan wet market, is China's first biosafety level IV lab, the US state department had warned in 2018 about a serious shortage of appropriately trained technicians and investigators needed to safely operate this high-containment laboratory, the report claims. The intern in question allegedly first infected her boyfriend, after which it meandered its way to the wet-market where it did eventually proliferate. Though the virus spread was later told to the world by china in January, technologically sound country like china could have alerted the world regarding this. They misused the technology and help themselves dig their own grave by telling it was just a normal issue.
Technology is the main reason for the upliftment of the civilization it also a major drawback for the downfall of the humanity.
Is technology superior or nature?
The humanity always used technology in the worst possible way to destroy the rock it is living on. Humans think they are the superior species on this planet even though Mother Nature gives back a big wake up slap!
Japan, February 2011, one of the biggest tsunami we could have ever witnessed it costed a big economic destruction and killed tens to thousands of people. India, September, 2018 when entire Kerala and kodagu was affected due to heavy floods which left many people homeless and jobless
Then there comes this microbe which has killed 1.7 lakh people and still unstoppable.
Humans have caused a lot of harm to the environment in various ways since the industrial revolution. The carbon footprint have increased rapidly in a decade causing a global phenomenon “climate change “ and melting arctic and Antarctic snow islands of the world, thereby raising the sea level and also making a hole in the ozone layer sounds cool right!
This is the reason nature as now started the human extinction programme to show humans that she still remains to be the far most superior force which can sustain life or even take lives. While corona is killing humans it is helping other species and Mother Nature to cure herself from the pollution caused by humans. Here are some of the images taken during this pandemic to show how earth is healing itself.
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| YAMUNA RIVER |
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| DUCKS BACK IN VENICE WATERS |
Author
SIDDARTH.D
Jain University
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