Antithekyra Revisited

In 1900 a shipwreck from around 100 BCE was found just off the Greek island of Antithekyra. In the wreck was a bronze-work mechanical device whose complexity wasn't matched until the European Rennaissance.  Its purpose was unknown for decades, but it was eventually found to be an astronomical calculator for predicting celestial events such as eclipses. 

Over the last century the Antithekyra wreck site has been sporatically explored because it's depth makes diving dangerous.  A few months back, several news outlets reported that a new deep-dive exo suit, originally designed for work in the New York sewage system, will be used to thoroughly explore the shipwreck.

This week I learned that the planned expedition will run for one month starting on September 15. I hope there's some way to follow this in real time, but we'll see.

Recent Links

Here's a few things that caught my attention this week.  I have two hopes: that I'm giving you something you missed and that I can make this a regular feature. 

Solar Roads Revisited

I'm old enough to remember the engergy crisis of the 1970's and discussions surrounding the nacent possibilities of solar energy.  I remember in particular the smug way people with "common sense" would dismiss solar energy.  "What do you do on cloudy days? He he!" Obviously, there isn't a complete absence of photons on cloudy days. But, to be honest, I don't know that there weren't real practical problems with solar collectors in those days. 

For the last several months a company called Solar Roadways has been raising start-up money for a technology for paving roads with solar cells.  Like any new technology, they're getting the range of typical criticism from perfectly valid to downright silly. Solar Roadways has responded. The response is not without problems either. Instead of another pundit run-down, I thought I'd give you their side directly.

Half-Baked Science

Is marijuana a harmless pastime or a societal menace? It turns out that facts don't really care about your beliefs, as an article in the latest edition of science news shows.

Egyptian Pixels

Did you ever want to visit an Egyptian building as it was when it was new? Have you ever thought to ask that question? I hadn't either, until I stumbled on a collaboration between a company creating immersive learning software and an Egyptologist.

A company called Corinth and one Jaromír Krejčí, Ph.D (no, I don't know how to pronounce that) both out of the Czech Republic have created an application that lets you move through a three dimensional reconstruction of the hall of a fifth dynasty pharaoh named Raneferef. Is ancient history not your thing? Corinth has a few other apps that might interest you. Please remember you're there for the 3D, not the translated text.