As the sun rises and sets, the resulting diurnal rhythm is what we call time. Before the world became connected through high speed transport, local towns set their own clocks. Noon was determined by the high point of sun in the sky: so, noon in Boston might be a bit different from noon in Baltimore, […]
When Wordsworth talked about the magic of a “spot of time,” the poet may not have imagined what digital challenges would be required by the adjustment of modern clocks to the world’s slightly irregular rotation. June 30, 2015, will have one extra second. We owe thanks to Sandford Fleming, surveyor for the Canadian Pacific Railway, […]
Rising seas may seem far off in time. Although global oceans may rise 4 feet, some say it is tomorrow’s problem. But in Manila, Philippines and Jakarta, Indonesia – tomorrow is today. It’s also tomorrow in Miami and San Francisco. Manila and Jakarta are both capitals of their countries; both were built as ports. Both […]
The Canal des Deux Mers was not a new idea by Riquet’s time, although he perfected it. The Archbishop of Toulouse headed a special commission chartered by King Henry IV (1553-1610) to study feasibility of a canal linking the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Henry IV was following a line of similar visionaries. Even Charlemagne wanted […]
Every time you pop open a plastic bottle, a fountain of microplastics enters your beverage. While we have known about microplastics in our water supply, and are developing innovative filters to catch them, a new source of contamination has been revealed. Imagine meeting a friend on a hot summer day. The heat is intense. You […]
Land, Sea, or Space – the search for critical minerals has increased in importance, and value, with the advent of renewable energy technologies requiring mineral-dependent battery storage. This week, Ukraine and the United States were about to finalize a deal for access to Ukraine’s critical minerals as spoils of war, with an unclear promise of […]
Nikola Telsa was there first; Peter Glaser, next. Telsa was sending wireless power from Niagara Falls; Glaser, from space to earth. Now, technology might free your mobile phone from battery recharging when you are in a wi-fi zone. And the walls of your office or school could tell a tale or two. It’s more than […]
“The mineral world is a much more supple and mobile world than could be imagined by the science of the ancients. Vaguely analogous to the metamorphoses of living creatures, there occurs in the most solid rocks, as we now know, perpetual transformation of a mineral species.” — Pierre Teilhard de Chardin We are now in […]
It’s small (just 4 inches/10 centimeters each side) but Japan’s new satellite innovation could change the way we build for, and communicate from, space. Sputnik began the space age on 4 October 1957; the US followed with Explorer 1 on 31 January 1958. When the world’s telecommunications countries joined together to create COMSAT Corporation in […]
Graphite may be one of the answers to the carbon transition. Carbon in its purest crystalline form, graphite is rewriting energy, especially in its related form of graphene. Graphite is basically thousands of layers of graphene. What are these two and why are they named after writing? If you have ever taken a test or […]