1erLUGAR,CATEGORÍAMENORINGLÉS
XVIICertamenNacionaldeEnsayoCientífico,2015
ABareNecessity
ValezkaOrtizGrijalba,LiceoExperimentalBilingüedeNaranjo
Weareagenerationwhowasborninsideofthecomfortandeasywayoflife
inthe21stcentury.Thepreviousgenerationshaveworked,createdandadvancedin
technologytobeabletoprovideittousnow.Nowadays,wehaveeverythingat
handnotknowingthecostthehumanracepaidtogetushere.Ourideasand
creationsleaveusinaweofamazementeveryday.Ofcourse,wecannotpossiblybe
comparedtothecapacitiesofnatureintermsofenergyoutsourcing.Lightisafactor
thatwedependon;canwerisklosingit?
Wehavegrowninknowledgeatafascinatingspeed.Itallbeganwiththe
curiosityofJamesClerkMaxwell.Hisideathatlightwasaformofelectromagnetic
energyinspiredAlbertEinsteintoamoreprofoundinvestigation.MenlikeThomas
EdisonandNikolaTeslaunitedtheirgeniusheadstoconstructthelightbulband
more.”SomedayI’llharnessthatpower.”(Tesla,1915);here,Teslapredictedour
currentcontroloverlight.Wehavegonefromanofficelightbulbtothebuildingof
skyscrapersandelevators,forgettingtheantiqueformsoflightsuchascandlesand
oillamps.
Thereisonesourceoflightthatwewouldbeleftascorporawithout,the
sun.Thereareothersources,suchasthemoonandstars,whichwewon’teverbe
abletoreplicate.Haveyoueverthoughtoftheimportanceofnaturallightsources?
Ifitwasn'tfortheSun,therewouldbenomoreplantsduetothelackoflight
neededforphotosynthesisleavingusandmanyotheranimalswithoutfood.Inother
words,leavingustodie.
Humanity,weneveracceptourlimits;weareneversatisfied.Mcdermott
(1996)describeswhatourambitionwillsomedayaccomplish,”Onedayscientists
willovertakelightandcrashintothedarkness”.Ouryearningledustowhatwecall
artificiallight.Electriclightisthemostcommonandconvenienttype.Human
creativityhasimprovedlight’ssimplicity.ForExample:Neonlightsaregasesthat
giveoutcolorwhenhigh-voltagesofelectricitypassthroughthem.Laserlightsare
thinbeamsoflight,commonlyusedforentertainment,astronomyandmedicine.We
havealsodiscoverednewlightcategoriessuchasinvisiblelightwhichdividesinto
infraredandultravioletlight.Infraredlightisemittedbyhotobjects,justastheSun
givesoutinfraredradiationwhichwefeelasheat.Ultravioletlightisthelightthat
comesfromtheSuncausingsunburnsanddamagetooureyes.
Aswehaveseen,lightandelectricityarevitalforsurvival.Wearemaking
ourselvesmoredependentonelectricityanditsconveniencesdayafterday.
Whetheritisnaturalorartificiallight,therearealmostendlessusestoit.Theplans
forthefuturearetomakemoreefficientsourcesthatconsumelessamountof
energy,sadlythingsdon’talwaysgoasplannedandthatissomethingweshould
definitelyputintothought.Wecan’triskalosslikethis,notnow.
Ideclarethatthisessayismyoriginalwork.Whereotherpeople’sworkhas
beenused(eitherfromaprintedsource,Internetoranyothersource),thishasbeen
properlyacknowledgedandreferencedinaccordancewithdepartmental
requirements.