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There are some people who believe that technology will save us from all our problems. Then there are others who believe that technology will destroy us. I am of the believer that technology will save us and we should just be careful of how we use newer technology with higher risks. Like for example, nano particles.

 Nano particles are particles that are so small they can enter and exit human cells without us even knowing anything has happened. Some places it can come from are vehicular fumes. We have been so obsessed with making vehicular emissions cleaner which has led to smaller particles being emitted from the tail pipe. It was originally assumed that the smaller a particle is the less damage it can do. But in the old days you could see gray or black smoke coming out of tail pipes.

 Now with emissions controls the only time you see emissions is when it is cold outside and a car is passing by at high speed. You will usually see fumes coming out of the tail pipe.

In the old days emissions were so bad that they turned the back of a bus where the muffler was into a black mess. In the old days if you had your window opened and passed a truck you got a belch full of vapors and smoke.

 But very little was ever said about particle matter that is what is left from diesel or gasoline being burnt. Some of this matter is the inside engines slowly deteriorating and coming out the muffler. Another is just Nitrogen Oxide, Sulfur Dioxide, along with some carbon dioxide that would form and get stuck in the tail pipe on its way out of the car. Now with emissions laws this particle matter has become so small it can enter or exit your lungs at will and get into the blood and cells. It is a real concern because we don’t know for sure what these particles will do in these cells. Will it become a carcinogen? We won’t know for sure because this is all new to society.

What is known is that if we continue to curb emissions eventually we will have to cut out these nano particles and find a way of keeping them out of the environment. So here is a way that technology on the bad side hurts us, car exaust, but how future technology will save us, trapping them.

The future is all good. Technology will help. But in the end it will be us humans who will figure out where to apply and how to control that technology. Technology, by itself won’t help us, if we decide not to use it to help, but to make things worse.

 But that’s where technology will lead us, either to use it for good or use it for bad.