Popular Science Australia

84 Pages·2017·19.103 MB·English

THE LAST SHIP:
Shell’s first (and only?) floating LNG refinery
E LONG
NOW
W A CLOCK IN
UNTAIN WILL
VE HISTORY
LIFE: T RE THE
Is Earth’s MAKERS
just a re-r we still love
clockwork
C O XY
E
P
S
M P
E
T
N
IK
S
NILUSNI C
O
T NMU R EPS
THE TI
LORDS
Who deci
what time
“Time Heals All Wounds”
Don't Fight Your Body Clock - Control It!
astron gps solar.
the watch that keeps you on perfect time. worldwide.
Using just the power of light, Astron adjusts to any time zone on earth at the touch of a button.
With a precision of one second every 100,000 years, you will never be late again.
*If there are changes in the region / time zone, manual time zone selection may be required.
seiko.com.au
ISSUE#106,SEPTEMBER2017
EDITORIAL
Editor Anthony Fordham [email protected]
Contributors Gemma Conroy, Dan Lander, Daniel Wilks
Give Me Just
DESIGN
Group Art Director Malcolm Campbell
Art Director Danny McGonigle
317 Seconds...
ADVERTISING
Group Advertising Manager
Cameron Ferris [email protected]
ph: 02 9901 6348

National Sales Executive
Sean Fletcher [email protected] Ourabilitytocarveuptimeintotinypiecesandallagreewhich
ph: 02 9901 6367
tinypieceithappenstoberightnow,keepsourcivilisation
Production Manager Peter Ryman
Circulation Director Carole Jones balancedonaknife-edgeofefficiencyandirrationality.
US EDITION
Editor in Chief Joe Brown Hours?Hoursaregreat.Hoursarereally abouttheDodgeChallengerDemon,
Articles Editor Kevin Gray
Managing Editor Jill C. Shomer useful,becausetheyhelpusknowwhen whichboaststhat-incertainconditions
Senior Editor Sophie Bushwick
Technology Editor Xavier Harding exactlytoturnupforwork,whento -itisthefastestproductioncarinthe
Assistant Editors Dave Gershgorn, Matt Giles
Editorial Assistant Grennan Milliken knockoff,whentopickupthekidsfrom worldforthe0-100km/hsprint.
Copy Chief Cindy Martin school,athousandotherthings. Andhowmuchfasterisitthan,say,
Researchers Ambrose Martos, Erika Villani
Editorial Intern Annabel Edwards Minutes?Minutesaregood,used aPorsche918Spider?About0.3ofa
ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY properly.Minuteshelpusbuildtransfer second.Secondsarestupid.
Acting Design Director Chris Mueller
Photo Director Thomas Payne buffersbetweenactivities.It’s1500h Yetsecondsareprobablyourultimate
Digital Associate Art Director Michael Moreno
Associate Art Director Russ Smith thatmarkstheendoftheday,butit’s future,whenitcomestomeasuring
Acting Production Manager Paul Catalano
minutesthathelpusknowwhento time.Alltheotherunitsarerelativeto
POPSCI.COM exactlystartheadinguptotheschool. Earth’srotationandorbit,andsomeday
Online Director Carl Franzen
Senior Editor Paul Adams Butminutescanalsomakeuscrazy. someofuswillliveonotherworlds,with
Assistant Editors Sarah Fecht, Claire Maldarelli
Contributing Writers Kelsey D. Atherton, It’sminutesthatmakepeoplecram otherorbits,andotherday-lengths.
Mary Beth Griggs,Alexandra Ossola
intoanovercrowdedtrainwhenthere’s EvenlivingonneighbouringMars
BONNIER’S TECHNOLOGY GROUP
Group Editorial Director Anthony Licata anothertraincomingrightalong willrequirecoloniststocelebratetwo
Group Publisher Gregory D Gatto behind.Becausetheyknowtheyneed differentkindsofanniversary.The
BONNIER togetthe0847htobeatworkatexactly standard-andirritatinglyimprecise
Chairman Tomas Franzen
Chief Executive Officer Eric Zinczenko 0900h.Andthatmattersbecause -yearof365.2425days-per-400-year-
Chief Content Officer David Ritchie
Chief Operating Officer Lisa Earlywine thebosscaninturnuseminutesto leap-cycle,andthe1.8-Julian-year
Senior Vice President, Digital Bruno Sousa
Vice President, Consumer Marketing John Reese determinethattheemployeeis“late”. Martianyear.Orisitthe668.5991
Seconds,now.Secondsarestupid.Oh, Martian-day(orSol)year?Orwhat?
notforscienceofcourse.Thesecond Yes,oncewehaveafewcolonies
istheonlyscientificunitoftime,and upandrunning,someonewillhaveto
it’svital-orrather,tinyfractionsofa tackletheproblemofuniversaltime.
Chief Executive Officer David Gardiner
Commercial Director Bruce Duncan secondarevital-fordoingscience. Today,thesecondnormallyonlygets
Popular Science is published 12 times a year by Foreverydaylifethough?Seconds dividedintolittlebits.Inthefuture,it
nextmedia Pty Ltd ACN: 128 805 970
Building A, 207 Pacific Highway areresponsibleforturningatinylittle mightgetcombinedintobiggerones.
St Leonards, NSW 2065
who-caresspanoftimeintoabigdeal. Ourancestorsmayspeaknotof
Under license from Bonnier International Magazines. © 2014 Bonnier
Corporation and nextmedia Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in Secondsarewhatmakeusangryabouta days,weeksandmonths,butrather
whole or part without written permission is prohibited. Popular Science is personwhoisditheringabouttheirfast kiloseconds,half-megaseconds,oreven
a trademark of Bonnier Corporation and is used under limited license.
The Australian edition contains material originally published in the US foodorderinthequeueahead.Seconds the32-Earth-yeargigasecond.
edition reprinted with permission of Bonnier Corporation. Articles express
the opinions of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Publisher, arewhatmakepeoplerisktheirlives Worstofall,we’llprobablyhave
Editor or nextmedia Pty Ltd. ISSN 1835-9876.
aggressivelychanginglanesinmoderate AIpersonalassistants,badgeringus
Privacy Notice
We value the integrity of your personal information. If you provide personal trafficonthehighway. intoputtingeverysingleoneofthose
information through your participation in any competitions, surveys or offers
featured in this issue of Popular Science, this will be used to provide the Andspeakingofdriving,seconds secondstogooduse.Comeonmeatbag,
products or services that you have requested and to improve the content of makepeoplespendcrazyamountsof time’swasting!
our magazines. Your details may be provided to third parties who assist us
in this purpose. In the event of organisations providing prizes or offers to our moneytobuycarsthataremerelytwoor
readers, we may pass your details on to them. From time to time, we may
use the information you provide us to inform you of other products, services threesecondsfasteracceleratingfrom
and events our company has to offer. We may also give your information to ANTHONY FORDHAM
other organisations which may use it to inform you about their products, 0to100km/h.Onpage12,youcanread [email protected]
services and events, unless you tell us not to do so. You are welcome to
access the information that we hold about you by getting in touch with our
privacy officer, who can be contacted at nextmedia, Locked Bag 5555, St
Leonards, NSW 1590
ON THE COVER
www.popsci.com.au
Digitally manipulated image of Hoptroff No.10
To subscribe, call 1300 361 146 atomic timepiece. For more information, see page 81.
or visit www.mymagazines.com.au
POPSCI.COM.AU 3
SEPTEMBER 2017
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
o t
ation me ca weigh
Equti rive
D
3
1
2
4
5
S
RI
U
O
B
M
A
K
N
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