Table Of ContentTHE LAST SHIP:
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NOW
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LIFE: T RE THE
Is Earth’s MAKERS
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Conten t s
For daily updates: www.popsci.com.au
38
The Clock
That Runs
The Inner You
We are all slaves to
our inner timekeeper,
yet few of us give
our invisible master
proper respect. Yet
defying our body
clocks isn’t an act of
liberation, it’s a fate
worse than death.
04 POPULAR SCIENCE
10 16
State of the Art
18 22 Your guide to everything
06 The Clock of the Long Now
08 What’s on your bedside table?
10 Obsessed returns!
12 A Demonic drive
14 Tools for treasure-hunters
16 Slow mo cameras...
17 ...and high speed cameras too!
Insight
Important stuff for futurists
28 18 Oversight: The biggest ship
22 Another brief history of time
24 Stars can be so retro
25 Can AIs learn social skills?
26 Do you dig time metaphors?
27 How long you do stuff and when
28 Time as perceived by an acorn
30 Op Ed: The LP
32 Op Ed: Rethink
34 Op Ed: amuse.bouche
Features
Many many words
60
46 Fighting over the “when” of life
54 Who to blame for what time it is
60 Blessed are the watchmakers
How 2.0
Made for you, by you
70 You built a Dalek?!
73 Sleep your way to Mars
74 Please invent...
76 The little big robot arm
The Other Stuff
Bonus Extra Material!
03 Our Editor Rants
78 From the Archives
80 Retro Invention
82 Next Issue
POPSCI.COM.AU 05
r
o r
n a
r e
e y
Speed gov Dial - Five digit - Horizons- Sun- Moon- Stars
me... Asforaccuracy,becausenatureismessy,there’snoidealsystemformeasuringtime.SotheClockisbuilttoa“phaselockedloop”whichisreliable,butwillalsoneedregularresets.Aningeniousoscillatorusesametalstripthatbucklesasthesunheatsitup.Thebucklingresetstheclocktonoon-andthestripispositionedsuchthatthesunonlyhitsitwhenitisdirectlyoverhead,atnoon.RightnowtheClockisunderconstruction.ButtheFoundation’sambitionisanythingbymodest.Quitesimply,itwantstheClockoftheLongNow(anamecoinedbymusicianBrianEno)tobecomeasimportantanAmericanculturaliconasMountRushmore.Giveittime.
e
y d h n
Marking Till of Time HONY FORDHAM orminutes.Instead,itshowsthesiderealda(theamountoftimeittakestheplanettorotate,relativetothestars,notthesun),antheprecessionofthezodiac.Thenthere’sadisplayforthepositionoftSunandMoon,aswellastheMoon’sphase.AndaroundtheedgeisthecurrentGregoriayear-exceptshowninafive-digitalformat.Sorightnow,theyearis02017.Rartherthanusesolarpanelsorevena“radioactiveslug”,theclockwillregularhumanwinding.Thiswillensuretheclockremainsarelevantculturalobject.However,evenifitisabandonedforlongstretches,itkeepstimeusingchangesintemperaturebetweendayandnightonthemountain.
A T
Stateof the Artby AN HUMANLIVESARETOOSHORTTObotherwithreallylong-termplanning,yetalso longenoughtosufferfromearliergeneration’slackofforesight.TheLongNowFoundationwantstofixthisproblem.StartedinSanFranciscoin1996,theLongNow Foundationhasamissionthat’sfairlyeasy toexplain:itwantshumanstothinkabout notthenextdecade,centuryorevenmillennium.Itwantsustoconsiderafutureasfar outas10,000years.To dothat,it’susinga$42milliondonationfrom JeffBezostobuildahuge“ClockoftheLong Now”deepinsideaTexasmountain(thepicturebelowisasmall-scaleprototype).The unusualfacedoesn’tbotherwithhours Drive rewind spirals
6 POPULAR SCIENCE
dial nical dulum
ck ha en
o c p
Normal cl Binary mecomputer Torsional
f m s
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ation me ca weigh
Equti rive
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3
1
2
4
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WHEN WE THINK OF TIME TRAVEL WE PICTURE SOMETHING O
H
Beside Yourself out of an H.G. Wells novel, but in a way, your bed is a time machine. NAT
State At NIght Lthaey Cdoenwtnre,cslo fsoer Dyoisuera esyee sC,o anntdro wl aanked uPpre inve tnhtei ofnu teusrteim. Uantfeosr ttuhnaat taetl y, H BY JO
of the least 50 million adults in the U.S. have trouble getting shut-eye. This AP
R
Art gathering of gadgets can’t cure a full-fledged sleep disorder, but it OG
by MALLORYJOHNS T
will appeal to your five senses and make it easier to drift peacefully HO
P
S /
E
C
R
U
SMELL SOUND SIGHT TASTE TOUCH SO
E
1. Essential oils aren’t 2. Looping white noise 3. Switching between 4. For centuries, 5. Under Armour’s R
Y
a bedtime panacea, from an app or digital machine-fed light of purveyors of Ayurvedic Performance LE
L
but it’s easier to rest in sound machine can be our devices and total medicine have praised Pajamas feel like a A
H
a room that smells inconsistent and darkness can confuse various spices for mixture of silk R
O
more like peppermint, annoying. The Marpac our brains about the general relaxation. jammies and athletic F
H
lemon, or cedarwood Dohm, however, time of day. The Philips Yogi’s Bedtime Tea gear. A bioceramic A
H
than your dirty gym uses a two-speed Wake-Up Light contains two: coating reflects far C
S
clothes. The Homedics asymmetrical fan to changes colour and cardamom and infrared rays from DY
Ellia Aspire Ultrasonic generate constant, brightness to simulate cinnamon. Chamomile body heat back to the EN
W
Diffuser uses a rapidly soothing sound. The natural sunrise and in the mix adds skin, which preliminary Y
vibrating transducer pitch and volume are sunset. Its LED shifts apigenin, a flavonoid, studies show might G B
to transform and adjustable up to among yellow, red, and which binds to help muscle recovery. N
LI
disperse a water- 75 decibels to drown orange to aid benzodiazepine brain The science isn’t TY
and-oil mix into a cool, out street noise or a transitions into and receptors to help settled, but the PJs P S
fragrant mist. snoring partner. out of sleep. chill you out. sure are cosy. RO
P
8 POPULAR SCIENCE
3
Obsessed
State
of the
Art
Each month, hundreds (if not thousands)
of tasty nuggets of tech hit the market.
Here are 10 that pass the PopSci pub-test.
by DAN LANDER
4
2
1
10
1 2 3 4 5
Porsche 911 Azio Retro Avionics V1 ORII Mighty Spotify
Bluetooth Speakers Classic Keyboard Electric Bike Smart Ring Player
€499 US$120 $TBA $TBA US$85.99
www.porsche-design.com www.aziocorp.com www.avionics.bike www.orii.io www. bemighty.com
Inspired by the famous Keyboards are too practical. Only the prototype of this Want the convenience of a Want to take Spotify with
twin-exhaust of the Porsche Too usable. Here’s some super-stylish electric Bluetooth earpiece without you, but don’t want to listen
911 (a $12,000 option - relief: a leather and zinc pushbike exists at the the wankery of sticking it on to it via your phone for some
kidding!), these speakers are alloy classic typewriter moment - but 80 hand- your ear? The ORII Smart reason? The Mighty Player
all about full-throttle sound. design, with round key caps, made units will follow. A Ring is an earpiece you wear allows offline storage of up
And like the 911, they punch and adjustable pillar feet. 5kW motor delivers a top on your finger. Simply touch to 1000 songs, but has no
above their weight, with a Since this is 2017, there’s full speed of 58km/h and a 120 a fingertip to the side of the built-in speaker, so BYO
claimed 60-watts. They’re backlighting of course, and kilometre range from a head (as per the instruc- Bluetooth. So why bother?
not cheap, but then, “cheap” the Bluetooth version has 3-hour charge. That should tions), and bone-conduction Because it’s cheap,
isn’t really what Porsche is swappable keys to make it make the V1 as easy to ride provides tinny - or should shock-proof and water-re-
all about, is it? Mac or Windows specific. as it is to look at. that be boney? - sound. sistant, unlike many phones.
10 POPULAR SCIENCE
