The effects of small errors (6 photos) Bashny.Net

Even the smallest error in calculation or a small misunderstanding can lead to tragic consequences, especially when it comes to the scientific field of activity. Here are eight of the brightest examples of how misinterpreted information may result in a terrible tragedy.

1. Inconsistency metric system of units has led to the collapse of NASA satellites orbiting Mars



Martian climate orbiting artificial satellite was launched in 1998 in order to study the climatic characteristics and atmospheric composition of the red planet. However, soon after the launch of the connection with the object was lost. The problem was that the computer software in the world to use the standard metric system in pounds per second (lb / s) adopted in the United States and Great Britain, while this unit was to follow the information obtained in Newtons per second (N / s). Thus, the satellite entered the Martian atmosphere at too low an altitude and burned.

2. Apocalypse 2012 version of Maya did not take place due to errors in the calculation of the date



Incorrect interpretation of the Mayan calendar has convinced many people that the end of December 2012, all will end. And the explanation, in fact, turned out to be quite simple - the date of December 21, 2012 corresponded to the end of a normal year and marks the beginning of a new one. As a result, the date of 21.12.2012 for the Maya, as it turned out, the same as 31.12.2012 for all other peoples of the world, then it only comes the new year.

3. The air crash in 1977 in the Canary Islands that has cost the life of 583 people, occurred due to misunderstanding the pilots Messaging Manager

The two aircraft collided at 747 runway Los Rodeos Airport, killing 583 people, and all this happened only because of miscommunication between pilots and aircraft dispatcher. The fog that day was so thick that visibility was almost zero.

Lack of understanding between the captain of the aircraft company "KLM" airport manager and created a situation where the pilots of the aircraft allegedly received permission to take off, and the strip was empty. However, on the runway at the same time I expect the permission to take off the other ship companies "Pan American". As a result, both machines are encountered on the ground.

4. Sir William Thomson was mistaken for 4, 45 billion years in determining the age of the Earth



The first person with the latest discoveries in the field of geology and physics tried to calculate the exact age of the planet back in the 1800's, was Sir William Thomson.

Thomson relied in its calculations for the periods when the Earth warmed and cooled, thus calculate the estimated age of between 20 and 40 million years. Whereas today the true age of the earth is considered to be 4, 5 billion years.

Error Thomson was the fact that he considered the Earth cooling the molten state after the final stage of planet formation and the beginning of the origin of life, whereas even after the subsequent cooling of the cosmic body temperature changed a very long time. And despite the apparent underestimation of the age of our blue planet, its calculation has become a phenomenal achievement in science, which up to this defined period of existence of the Earth's most religious precepts, dating its existence a few thousand years.

5. Columbus serious miscalculation in determining the distance, which is why he and his team nearly lost their lives



Generally, Columbus made a series of errors in the calculations. Firstly, he did not consider the implementation of a calculation of the distance degree of latitude marked on the map. Secondly, he has mixed Roman and Arabic miles, of which the latter was much more. Third, it has a position of Japan is closer to 12 kilometers, than it actually is.

6. The media reported that 12 people injured in an accident at the mine safely rescued, while in fact 11 of them were already dead

Needless to say that experienced relatives and family members of the 12 workers when they first cheered glad tidings, and three hours later taken aback sad news. Perhaps there was an error in understanding between the rescuers and journalists, when the first through the protective mask, which does not allow to communicate normally, trying to convey to the last the true situation.

7. Incorrect understanding of how cold medicine should be taken, leading to serious damage to the brain eight girls



Mackenzie Bryant immediately after birth underwent a complicated operation for a heart transplant, which is why it ordered to avoid receiving certain types of medications to avoid complications.

At the age of eight years, Bryant caught a cold and the doctor consulted with the doctor observed her cardiologist regarding permissible drugs. And then there are two specialist properly understood each other, whether the doctor had forgotten to remove from the list of Afrin (oxymetazoline), a girl after taking this medicine just could not swallow, speak and walk.

So, the result of a misunderstanding of two doctors permanently deprived child opportunities to live fully, leaving her helpless exist with irreversible lesion of the cerebral cortex.

8. Even Einstein almost became a victim of an error in his calculations, adding to his theory of relativity cosmological constant



He used the so-called cosmological constant in many of its formulas, confirming the mistaken idea that the universe is supposedly stable, not narrowing or expanding.

Ultimately, it was proved that vsёlennaya constantly expanding, so Einstein had to remove this constant of his calculations. However, as it turned out, the universe is expanding ever-increasing pace, so the newly required quantity, which could reflect this phenomenon, and Einstein's theory of relativity was again added the cosmological constant.