CITIES: Olympian Innovations and Climate Change

Posted on July 26, 2024 by Building The World

“Eiffel Tower” by photographer Tommie Hansen, 2013. Creative Commons 2.0. Included with appreciation.

Paris opens the Olympics today. One hundred years ago, in 1924, the city of lights last hosted the world’s games. What has changed? Each Olympic city endeavors to introduce innovations: this summer, many will reflect responses and solutions to climate change.

River Seine from Bercy by photographer Mortimer62, 2010: Creative Commons 2.0. Included with appreciation.

Beach volleyball will take place at the foot of the Eiffel Tower ( on a temporary beach of imported sand). Real sand will greet Olympic surfers who will ride the waves in Teahupo’o, Tahiti. For the opening ceremony, athletes will float down the Seine (the city’s mayor swam in the river to prove its cleanliness).

**The 1964 Tokyo Olympics featured the new Shinkansen rail transit system -profitable from day one.** Image: Shinkansen Series N700a at Mt. Fuji by photographer Maeda Akihito, 2021. Creative Commons 4.0. Included with appreciation.

Hosting the Olympics is both a financial danger and an opportunity for upgraded infrastructure. When Tokyo opened the 1964 Olympics, a new transit system debuted. Shinkansen, Japan’s famed train system, was completed just 10 days before. Timing was ideal: the new train line was profitable from day one, according to financial analysis by Japanese historian of technology Hoshimi Uchida. After the Olympics, Shinkansen expanded its reach: in 2022, there were 16,347 miles (27,245 kilometers) of tracks for trains carrying 382 billion passengers.

When Rio de Janeiro hosted the 2016 Olympics, supermodel Gisele Bündchen graced the opening ceremony. Image: Agéncia Brasil, 2016. Creative Commons 3.0. Included with appreciation.

But past performance is not a guarantee of future profits. When Tokyo opened the 2020 Olympics (held in 2021 due to the global pandemic) there were no tourists to ride the rails. Hosting was heroic but unprofitable, costing $20 billion. Athens hosted in 2004, building a stadium that not only racked up debt but, some economists state, may have ushered in a financial meltdown. Rio 2016 featured Gisele Bündchen strolling the opening ceremony to “The Girl from Ipanema.” But the city later had to sell off the newly-built Olympic Village at a financial loss. Looking at the numbers from past Olympics, Denver, Colorado bowed out of the running for the 1976 winter Games. Is hosting the Olympics worth it?

Barcelona emerged, in 1992, as a model of success through Olympian planning. New beaches, new transport including rail and a new airport, new telecommunications systems were so effective that a new term in architecture and urban planning emerged: “the Barcelona Effect.” London’s 2012 Olympics proved a new environmental technology: the renovated West Ham tube station offered renewable electricity created by movement of people crossing floors that lighted the entire metro station. Laurence Kemball-Cook, then a graduate student at Loughborough University, designed the technology plan and later formed PaveGen to offer electric floors to offices, hospitals, schools, and other buildings (including dance clubs) with ample foot traffic.

Dominque Perrault, chief architect for the new Olympian facility at Seine-Saint-Denis, also designed the above pictured Hippodrome de Longchamp in Paris. Image: Madeira78, 2018. Creative Commons 4.0. Included with appreciation.

Will Paris 2024 be a success? Some see renovations in Seine-Saint-Denis – a cluster of 40 small towns – as a means to improve an area plagued by joblessness and crime. After the Games, the area may emerge reborn as a “mixity” of residential and business activity: 40 architects who worked with central planner Dominique Perrault will see if that vision endures. Some worry displaced residents could return only to be priced out. Sustainability is part of the plan: seats for an aquatic center are made from recycled plastic bottle caps collected by children in Seine-Saint-Denis schools. (Kimmelman 2024)

Among the many innovations Paris will bring to the 2024 Olympics is an underground cooling system that will keep athletes comfortable amid the rising heat levels related to climate change. The water-cooled (recycled) technology, part of the Paris vision to be carbon-neutral by 2050, is based on advanced geothermal technology.

Paris: city of COP21 the “Paris Agreement” and city of the 2024 Olympics. Image: “2015 Climate Conference poster,” public domain. Included with appreciation.

The Paris Olympics 2024 will take place in the same city that achieved the COP21 Paris Agreement; this summer’s Games may set new examples of how cities can respond to climate change for a more sustainable, renewable world.

Brooke, K. Lusk. Renewing the World: WATER, 2022. ISBN: 9798985035919. https://renewingtheworld.com

Davidson, Frank P. and K. Lusk Brooke, “Shinkansen – National High-Speed Railways,” Chapter 35, Building the World, Volume II, pages 669 -680, 2006. ISBN: 9780313333743.

Kimmelman, Michael. “Hosting the Olympics costs billions. What does a city get back?” 22 July 2024. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/22/magazne/olympics-city-redevelopment-paris.html

Pavegen.https://www.pavegen.com

Runnerstribe Admin. “Paris Olympics: A Cool Solution to Summer Heat.” 26 March 2024. https://runnerstribe.com/news/paris-olympics-a-cool-solution-to-summer-heat

Shadbolt, Peter. “Future cities may harvest energy from human footsteps” 2014. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2014/12/30/tech/innovation/tomorrow-transformed-energy-harvesting/index.html

CITIES: Fireworks? Or a New Sky!

Posted on July 4, 2024 by Building The World

**July 2024: month of celebrations and aerial art. Is it time for a new sky?** Image: “Everlasting Fireworks” from Nagaoka Festival 2012, looped by Jahobr, 2020. Creative Commons 3.0 Included with appreciation.

July 2024: a month of celebratory aerial art. It is time for a new sky?

“**Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra**” by Garrett A. Wollman, Creative Commons 2.0. Included with appreciation.

July 4: In the United States, today marks Independence Day with festive sky illuminations over cityscapes from Alabama (“Thunder on the Mountain”) and Arizona (Scottsdale’s WestWorld) to Massachusetts with the Boston Pops on the city’s Esplanade playing the war-related “1812 Overture ” complete with cannon fire supplied by 101st Field Artillery accompanied by fireworks, and James Taylor at Tanglewood, all the way to Wyoming where Lander hosts a rodeo and celestial conflagration.

“**Fly Over Bastille Day, 2017.**” by Chief Petty Officer Michael McNabb, 2017. Public Domain. Included with appreciation.

July 14: Bastille Day follows suit. Fireworks with the Eiffel Tower as background are a classic on this National Day. There a military parade on the Champs-Elysées. Some would observe that many national anthems celebrate war (can we celebrate peace?). Fireworks clog already-polluted urban air.

**“Olympic rings in the Place du Trocadéro”** by .Anja, 2017. Creative Commons 4.0. Included with appreciation.

July 26: the Paris Olympics will feature 10,500 athletes floating along the Seine river in national team boats, with opening ceremony finale at the Trocadéro. Fireworks often illumine Olympic celebrations.

TIME FOR A NEW SKY?

But there are at least two public health reasons why fireworks should no longer be the light show of choice: urban pollution and risk of wildfires. And now, there is a technological opportunity to consider a new sky.

AIR POLLUTION

**Air over cities can improve**. “Fanhe Town, Tieling, China: 10 day interval contrast” by Tomskyhaha, 2019. Included with appreciation.

Air pollution and urban smog are a global problem. But this July, two places may have options for cleaner air. In the USA, many cities suffer air quality issues from ozone with Los Angeles, California the worst, followed by Phoenix, Arizona; Denver, Colorado; Houston, Texas; Las Vegas, Nevada; Chicago, Illinois; and Albuquerque, New Mexico having trouble (descending order). And then there is particulate pollution – deadly to lungs where tiny pieces lodge, causing chronic conditions and also deadly disease. From Bakersfield, Fresno, San Francisco/Oakland, and Los Angeles in California (highest) to Corpus Christi, Texas and Las Vegas, Nevada, the health of urban citizens is at risk.

Paris suffers air quality problems well above World Health Organization recommended limits. Levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter have declined since France placed limits on diesel-fueled vehicles, but clouding the skies with explosions, however artistic, stresses the respiratory tracts of viewers, not to mention Earth’s atmosphere. Figures reveal that 7,900 premature deaths could have been avoided in Paris in 2022 if pollution were better controlled. What about 2024?

WILDFIRES

Climate change has brought increasing drought and with it, wildfires. In the United States, California is so prone to wildfires that the state established a tracking dashboard for residents to evaluate daily risk. So far, this summer has seen the Basin fire covering 13,980 acres (26% contained); the Bolt 3-2 fire damaging 10, 353 acres (98% contained). To date, 147,012 acres have burned: up 394%. The site also lists water shortages. Canada also suffered extensive wildfire damage in recent years (see above images from Sentinel-2A).

Did you know that wildfires peak around holidays when local folks set off their own fireworks at their house or area field? According to the US Forest Service, wildfires saw a predictable spike on July 4 during the period of 1992 to 2020. So-called “Roman candles” in Washington, DC burned down a 76-person residential building last week. In 2023, 9,700 people sought hospital emergency treatment for firework-linked injuries: half were children.

A NEW SKY

**Drones offer new sky art**. Image: “Intel Drone 100 Light Show” by Ars Electronica Futurelab, 2015. Photography by Preetam Choudhury, 2015. Creative Commons 4.0. Included with appreciation.

With threats of air pollution and wildfires, some cities are opting out of traditional fireworks and turning to drone sky art. Boulder, Colorado pivoted to drone shows after the Marshall Fire (2021/22) took two lives and 6,000 acres (2,428 hectares). California’s La Jolla and Ocean Beach opted for sky animations six years ago. Napa, a city known for festive toasts, will take precaution in the midst of a dangerous heat wave with attendant fire risks to present July 4th 2024 air choreography by 400 drones. In the UK, at the coronation of King Charles III, the light show was delivered by drones. At the recent Tokyo Olympics, drones ascended to offer sky art.

Drones are becoming a good investment: the market has grown from nil to $1 billion in 2021. Drone stocks are soaring – some as high as the new sky art we may see this July.

**Technology offers an opportunity for a new sky. Is now the time?** “6/60/Dronc gif” by BQ20 H. Vargas, 2020. Creative Commons 4.0 Included with appreciation.

For a light show, by drone, click here.

American Lung Association. “State of the Air: Most Polluted Cities in 2024.” https://www.lung.org/research/sota/city-rankings/most-polluted-cities

Brooke, K. Lusk. “A New Sky.” 4 July 2023. Building the World Blog. https://blogs.umb.edu/buildingtheworld/2023/07/04/cities-wildfires-fireworks-and-a-new-sky/

Bogle, Jeff. “The Best Fireworks Displays in Every State.” 27 June 2024. Reader’s Digest.

Calmatters. “Track California Wildfires 2024.” https://calmatters.org/california-wildfire-map-tracker/

Kiszla, Cameron. “Fireworks can be breathtaking in more ways than one.” 3 July 2024. KTLA. https://ktla.com/news/local-news/fireworks-air-quality/

Maggiacomo, Taylor. “You don’t need your own fireworks to celebrate July 4.”4 July 2024. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/07’02/opinion/thepoint/you-dont-need-your-own-fireworks-to-celebrae-july-4

Napa, California. “Drone Show to Light Up Napa’s 4th of July Celebrations.” https://www.cityofnapa.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=716.

RFI. “Paris air pollution still too high.” https://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20230413-paris-air-pollution-still-too-high-despite-slight-improvement

Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich. “1812 Overture – with Cannons” listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUpuAvQQrC0

Williams, Ashley R. “Some US cities are replacing 4th of July fireworks with environmentally friendly drones.” 2 July 2023. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/02/us/drones-replace-july-fourth-fireworks-trnd

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CITIES: Wildfires, Fireworks, and A New Sky

Posted on July 4, 2023 by Building The World

**Will drones replace fireworks?** Image: Nagaoka Festival 2006 by ZorroIII. Creative Commons 3.0. Included with appreciation.

Many cities light up the sky during festive occasions. In the United States, today marks a holiday often celebrated with fireworks. But with drought plaguing some areas, the risk of igniting wildfires is causing an innovation: sky art with drones. Instead of traditional fireworks, the city of Boulder, Colorado will feature a drone show (the Marshall Fire of 2021/22 killed two people and devastated 6000 acres/2,428 hectares). Galveston, Texas will also illumine the holiday with a drone display. California towns of La Jolla and Ocean Beach will flash the night sky with animations. It’s a new idea for La Jolla: the city has forgone any fireworks for five years.

**Drone aerial display during coronation of King Charles III.** Image: Department for Culture, Media and Sport, by SkyMagic Drone Shows, May 2023. Creative Commons 1.0 Public Domain. Included with appreciation.

Drones replacing fireworks on this holiday will not be a first. Tokyo used drones during their most recent Olympics; during their first Olympian experience, the city launched the innovation of Shinkansen. And, in 2023, the coronation of King Charles III featured an artistic drone light display.

**Drones are an innovation that has grown to a $1 billion market in the past decade.** Image: Drone Flying Eye, 2011 by Drone Flying Eye. Creative Commons 3.0. Included with appreciation.

For sky art, drones have advantages over fireworks: no smoke, no falling particles, and a quieter display. Drones are an innovation that has grown impressively over the past ten years from almost nothing to a $1 billion market in 2021.

Has your city used drones instead of fireworks? What do you think of this new trend? For a sample of drone light shows, click here.

Hirsch, Lauren and Michael J. de la Merced. “Fireworks Have a New Competitor: Drones.”1 July 2023. The New York Times.

O’Connell, Brian. “7 Best Drone Stocks to Watch in 2023.” U.S. News & World Report. https://money.usnews.com/investing/stock-market-news/slideshows/drone-stocks-to-consider-as-the-technology-soars

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 U

CITIES: Reuse and redesign

Posted on March 1, 2020 by Building The World

1.5 billion chopsticks are discarded every week. Could these elegant materials be repurposed? Japanese chopsticks. Image: wikimedia

Vancouver, Canada is taking reuse and redesign to an artistic new level. The many excellent restaurants serving cuisine with chopsticks cannot re-use these wooden implements. But ChopValue can. Collecting 350,000 chopsticks – every week – from Vancouver restaurants, the company cleans and repurposes the bamboo utensils to make tabletops and wooden kitchenware. It’s an idea that has potential far beyond Vancouver: worldwide 1.5 billion chopsticks are discarded every week. How it works: chopsticks are collected from restaurants and taken to local micro-factories where they are fashioned into home products. ChopValue was conceived over a sushi dinner when friends discussed the problem, and opportunity, of construction waste. Suddenly one said: what about chopsticks? Four years later, there are ChopValue programs in Canada and the United States. Will the land of Shinkansen, hosting the Tokyo Olympics, take up the torch during the 2020 Games?

BBC.com. “Making chopsticks into house furnishings.” 28 February 2020.

ChopValue. https:chopvalue.com

I, Florence. “CHOPVALUE: A Movement to Extend the Life Cycle of Chopsticks.” 13 January 2019. Pendulum Magazine. https://pendulummag.com/business/2019/1/13/chop-value-creating-multiple-cycles-of-value/

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TRANSPORT: frequent flier programs

Posted on October 25, 2019 by Building The World

First, it was Greta Thunberg who traveled throughout Europe to speak to, among others, the French National Assembly; the teen climate activist, nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, declared the transport decision as a preference for lower-emissions travel. A new word came into common parlance: Flygskam (Swedish) or “Flight Shame.”

Greta Thunberg who traveled by train in Europe and by sailboat to the United Nations in New York, USA, in 2019. Image: wikimedia

Next, Imperial College London and Richard Carmichael reported to the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), an independent advisory agency of the UK government, that the nation’s goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, to meet the Paris Agreement of COP21, must address air travel: “Flying is a uniquely high-impact activity and is the quickest and cheapest way for a consumer to increase their carbon footprint.”

As a result, frequent flier programs, both of airlines and of credit cards, might have to go. Citing data that just 15% of the UK population takes 70% of the flights, CCC report states: “Given the scope for frequent fliers to have carbon footprints many times that of the average UK household, a lack of policy in this area is likely to be increasingly seen as inconsistent and unjust and risks damaging engagement with climate action.” (Carmichael 2019)

In the United States, 12% of Americans fly more than six round-trips per year; mainly business travelers, these frequent fliers are responsible for two-thirds of air travel, and therefore participating in aviation emissions. That’s 3 tons of carbon dioxide per year, per flier. Some policy specialists differentiate between business and pleasure air travel. But 83% of Americans drive cars, and most heat or cool their homes – activities that also cause considerable carbon emissions.

Concerned about aviation’s future, some airlines are staying ahead of the trend: British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Iberia (art of IAG, International Airlines Group) announced a strategic sustainability plan to 1)replace older aircraft, 2)invest in sustainable jet fuel, and 3) develop new technologies that take carbon out of the atmosphere. (Guy, 2019) Businesses and universities are starting to allow longer travel time for staff who travel for work, so that they may avoid flying; train travel, including the Channel Tunnel, is recommended. Japan is updating Shinkansen (high speed rail originally built for the 1956 Olympics) in anticipation of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Saying “bye” to frequent flier programs? Image: wikimedia

Do you have frequent flier miles? What is your opinion on how incentives in transport may change?

Carmichael, Richard. “Behavior change, public engagement, and Net Zero.” 10 October 2019. Committee on Climate Change, Centre for Energy Policy and Technology and Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London. https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/behaviour-change-public-engagement-and-net-zero-imperial-college-london/behaviour-change-public-engagement-and-net-zero-richard-carmichael/

Guy, Jack. “Ban air miles to combat climate crisis, recommends UK research.” 15 October 2019. CNN/Travel. https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/air-miles-ban-report-scli-intl/index.html.

International Airlines Group (IAG). “Sustainability.” https://www.iairgroup.com/en/sustainability

Tabuchi, Hiroko and Nadja Popovich. “How Guilty Should You Feel About Flying?” 17 October 2019, The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/10/17/climate/flying-shame-emissions.html.

Thunberg, Greta. “Address to the National Assembly” July 23, 2019. France. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESDpzwWrmGg

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unporte

WATER: World Oceans Day

Posted on June 8, 2019 by Building The World

“Large Breaking Wave.” Image: noaa.gov, wikimedia

World Oceans Day, celebrated June 8, reminds us of the beauty, importance, and critical sustainability of our water. By 2050, there may be more plastic in the ocean than fish. Unless we take action. Should new agreements involving Canada, Mexico, and the United States include the oceans that border our land? Might the Canal des Deux Mers in France champion ways to protect the Atlantic Ocean? Will Shinkansen, Japan’s Shinkansen train system now being upgraded for the 2020 Olympics, engage athletes in preservation of the Pacific Ocean? In 2019, you are invited to take a photo of yourself or your friends at the ocean, pictured with arms in the air; photo cropped so hands touch the upper corners of the frame: post using the hashtag: #TogetherWeCan. This year’s theme: Gender and the Ocean.

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported Licen

Sending the Signal

Posted on December 3, 2018 by Building The World

Tom Brady, New England Patriots. Image: wikimedia.

Landmark program of the National Football League (NFL). “My Cause, My Cleats” features football athletes sending a signal. Players declare their cause and customize their shoes to put the cause into action. For the New England Patriots, messages include Tom Brady: Best Buddies; Sony Michel: Haitian Earthquake Disaster Rebuilding; Matthew Slater: International Justice Mission.

Michael Jordan may have started the trend of sending a message through athletic footwear. Image: wikimedia.

Could the idea mobilize the future of climate change? This week, world leaders meet in Katowice, Poland for COP24: three years since COP21, and the Paris Agreement, it’s time to take the climate’s pulse. In light of the IPCC data showing deteriorating climate and nations are not on target, compounded by the recent report on climate and economy in the United States, one of the questions to be debated in Poland may be how to communicate the urgency. Climate scientists have commented that finding the right message and image is challenging. Polar bears didn’t work; plastic in fish led to some awareness but did not solve the problem. What could?

The power of an image and a slogan. Image: Social welfare library, Virginia Commonwealth University.

Some of the greatest successful macro initiatives in history came to life with a coined word, a slogan, an image. The Channel Tunnel had been in some form of planning since Napoleon, but it took a newly coined word, “Chunnel,” (by Frank Davidson) to make the idea of a rail tunnel across the channel linking England and France popular enough to get built. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) “sold” the idea of electricity with a slogan “Electricity for ALL” emblazoned on one of the first logos in history: a fist clutching a lightning bolt, reminiscent of Prometheus.

Poland could recommend sports stars and teams adopt one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for example. Another image? #1.5, slogan displayed on the Eiffel Tower in Paris in 2015, and the subject of the world’s largest postcard collaged on a glacier in Switzerland. “My Cause, My Cleats” might help to mobilize change. Making climate action fashionable can be even more exciting when profitable. The NFL invites fans to bid in an online auction to buy the cleats, assured that 100% of the proceeds will go the player’s charitable cause.

COP24 could, among its recommendations on climate action, send a global message of peace and sustainability through the 2020 Olympics. When Tokyo hosted the games half a century ago, Japan launched a new era in efficient-energy speed-rail transport: Shinkansen. Will the Olympics of 2020 send the message of climate action in sartorial splendor?

Bobin, Jean-Louis. Les Déconvenues De Prométhée: La longue marche vers l’énergie thermonucléaire. Atlantis Sciences/Atlantica 2001. ISBN: 2843943264.

Center for Rebuilding Sustainable Communities After Disasters. “Haiti: After the Cameras Have Gone.” 2010. University of Massachusetts Boston.

Davenport, Coral and Kendra Pierre-Louis. “U.S. Climate Report Warns of Damaged Environment and Shrinking Economy.” 23 November 2018. The New York Times.

NFL . “My Cause My Cleats” NFL Auction.

SDG Knowledge Hub. “Katowice Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP24) 2-14 December 2019. Katowice, Slaskie, Poland. http://sdg.iisd.org/events/unfccc-cop-24/

Sullivan, Tyler. “Patriots players reveal their My Cause, My Cleats.” 30 November 2018. 247sports.com.

UNFCCC. “Katowice Climate Change Conference – December 2018.” United Nations Climate Change. https://unfccc.int/katowice.

United Nations. “Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals Through Climate Action.” https://unfccc.int/achieving-the-sustainable-development-goals-through-climate-action

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported Lice

Olympics: Speed and Innovation

Posted on February 25, 2018 by Building The World

PyeongChang’s Olympics saw gold, silver, bronze, and a glimpse into the future. Some parts of the Olympic and Paralympic Games received 5G coverage. KT and Intel were among the providers; after the Olympics, AT&T will debut 5G in Atlanta, Dallas, and Waco.

Every era of civilization might be characterized by its predominant mode of transport; perhaps the Internet is the road of our time, it’s new fast lane: 5G. Three decades after COMSAT launched satellites, AT&T began developing an industry standard for interoperability of wireless communication with partner Nortell. As a result, GSM became the standard. Today’s interoperability certification is TETRA. The result? Driverless cars, smarter cities. Should the United States Interstate System open a tetra lane for autonomous vehicles? The Critical Communications Association (TCCA), coordinating public safety and disaster response, might suggest, next to the tetra lane, a sportsway with charging stations, segway and bike lanes, and walking routes. Boston might consider building the first link, in cooperation with the Central Artery, part of the Interstate: nickname, 5Greenway.

Instant takes time. The first idea for 5G dates to April 2008 when NASA and Machine-to-Machine Intelligence (m2mi) partnered, termed by some as the “commercialization of space.” The Memorandum of Understanding was only the third in NASA’s history. Stated goals included: “Under the agreement, NASA and m2mi will cooperate to develop a fifth generation telecommunications and networking system for internet protocol-based and related services. The cooperative effort will combine NASA’s expertise in nano sensors, wireless networks, and nano satellite technologies with m2mi’s unique capabilities in software technology, sensors, global system awareness, adaptive control and commercialization capabilities. Fifth Generation, of 5G, incorporates Voice Over Internet Protocol, video, data, wireless, and an integrated machine-to-machine intelligence layer, or m2mi, for seamless information exchange and use.” In December 2017, 5G was approved by the 3GPP international wireless consortium. The United Nations’ International Telecommunications Union will consider the system in 2019.

Next Olympics: 2020 Tokyo. Japan launched high speed train system Shinkansen for the opening of the 1964 Olympics. Speed has always been a winning characteristic of Olympic gold. What kinds of speed, including 5G, will we see in 2020?

3gpp. “First 5G NR Specs Approved.” 22 December 2017. http://www.3gpp.org/news-events/3gpp-news/1929-nsa_nr_5g.

3gpp. “Drafting and publication of GSM Specs…in the pre-3GPP era.” 3gpp: The Mobile Broadband Standard. http://www.3gpp.org/specifications/gsm-history/.

Goldman, David and Betsy Klein. “What is 5 G?” CNN.com. 29 January 2018. http://money.cnn.com/2018/01/29/technology/what-is-5g/index.html

m2mi. Machine to Machine Intelligence Corporation, “Safe, more livable, and efficient Smart Cities: The Internet of Things.” http://www.m2mi.com/

NASA. “NASA Ames Partners with M2Mi For Small Satellite Development.” 24 April 2008. https://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/apr/HQ_08107_Ames_nanosat.html.

“Olympic Visions: PyeongChang 2018.” 10 February 2018. Building the World Blog. https://blogs.umb.edu/buildingtheworld/2018/02/10/olympic-visions/.

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Olympic Visions

Posted on February 10, 2018 by Building The World

PyeongChang Olympics, motto: “Passion. Connected.” Image: wikimedia

PyeongChang 2018 opened with ceremony and a hopeful promise of peace. Throughout history, Olympics have offered a window into the future. Japan built Shinkansen, the fast-train system, to open ten days before the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, garnering plenty of users and publicity. Japan had a history of transport consumer involvement: in 1929, the country held a naming contest for new trains: Fuji and Sakura won public approval. London’s 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games inspired Laurence Kimball-Cook, a 25-year-old university student, to found PaveGen, generative floors that produce electricity when stepped upon. The West Ham Tube Station, leading to the Olympic stadium, lined with 12 electric pavers, activated by one million footsteps, powered the station. Hospital lobbies see an average of 250, 000 steps – enough to power 10,000 mobile phones; dance floors could light up nightclubs; campus students could walk in the light. What innovations will PyeongChang introduce? One glimpse into the future may be 5G preview. KT (formerly Korea Telecom), along with Intel, LG U+ Samsung, highlighted bobsledding and figure skating. TimeSlice created 3D in the Ice Arena. For those not in the stadium, NBC and Intel provided an app for VR views.

Captain, Sean. “The Winter Olympics Will Be A Coming-Out Party for 5G.” 8 February 2018. Fast Company. https://www.fastcompany.com/40528802/the-winter-olympics-will-be-a-coming-out-party-for-5G-wireless.

Intel. “Experience the Coolest Games on Earth.” https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/sports/olympic-games/5g.html

KT. “KT becomes Olympics Partner.” https://www.pyeongchang2018.com/en/partners/KT

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Faster Than A Speeding Bullet Train

Posted on November 4, 2016 by Building The World

Chuo Shinkansen: Japanese “flying trains” will travel 1 mile every 10 seconds. Image: wikimedia commons.

What’s faster than a speeding bullet, a phrase used to describe Superman? The new Shinkansen, or Japanese bullet train. Japan Rail announced the design of a magnetic levitation train that will achieve speeds over 600 kilometers per hour (374 miles per hour), or 1 mile (1.5km) every 10 seconds. Maglev trains are already in regular service in China: Shanghai and Changsha; as well as Korea, in Incheon. When Japan hosted the 1964 Olympics, Shinkansen was introduced, with the Tokyo-Osaka line. By 2002, Shinkansen had transported 382 billion passengers, with a 99% on-time record. Japan’s success inspired France’s TGV and Germany’s Intercity-Express. Maglev Chuo Shinkansen will shoot from Tokyo to Nagoya in 40 minutes; the line will soon extend to Osaka. Japan will follow a new law passed in 2001 that decrees that developers need not purchase land above, if digging more than 40 meters (131 feet) below. The law names the underground territory as daishindo (extreme underground). When will Amtrak emulate Japan’s leadership in train transport?

Hongo, Jun. “Tokyo underground: taking property development to new depths.” Japan Times. 12 April 2014. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2014/04/12/lifestyle/tokyo-underground/#.WBuoQygylDJ/

Lo, Andrea. “Can mega-fast maglev revive Japan’s rail reputation?” 3 November 2016. CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/31/asia/japan-record-breaking-maglev-train/

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.