how could technology resulting from scientific research reduce the impact of human activities on the environment

Technology made specifically to stop something is more effective because i is tailored speciffically to a certain problem, if you want to stop using a power plant toxic to the environment you can use solar panels, if you want to stop the radiation from microwaves you can study how the waves are given off and make a technological improvement to stop it. If you make a small improvement it can change the course of the world just look at cell phones or even indoor pluming.