Two fascinating bits of news today. The first was word that there are plans to build a 420 meter skyscraper that will constantly change its own shape.
(420 and buildings that appear to move on their own - sounds like it could be a Cheech and Chong skit)
This skyscraper is proposed for the kingdom of Dubai, home of many engineering marvels in recent years. Each floor of the building would be capable of rotating on its own, courtesy of wind turbines located on each floor. The building itself would be pre-fabricated and allegedly need very few workers at the actual construction site.
It's an awe-inspiring concept and if it works it should be breathtaking. I say 'if' it works because the man behind the project seems to be a bit of a P.T. Barnum, with an exaggerated resume and degrees from colleges that don't exist. But you never know.
[I love engineering. Well, I love the idea of engineering, never having actually done it for a living. I always say that if my kids aren't sure about what they want to do in life I'd try to steer them towards that field, even though I don't have the slightest bit of talent in that department. It's better than wasting four years of college on an Art or History major like I did, that's for sure (assuming they don't want to teach).]
Floor space in the building will be $3000/sq foot, which means the largest apartment will cost a cool forty million dollars.
The second bit of news is that scientists have allegedly found the precise date of one of the events in Homer's The Odyssey.
In that epic poem Odysseus returns home to Penelope after ten years at sea and an eclipse occurs that very day. Following clues in the text (astronomical events, etc) they have pinpointed the day as April 16, 1178 B.C., close to noon local time.
If you take the book as pure fiction this is a colossal waste of time. If, as with The Iliad, there is a hard kernel of truth behind the epic then we now have a more accurate baseline from which to study the text.
Did I mention this was page 2 news in today's Journal-Sentinel, and while I don't have the paper in front of me I think it was also mentioned on the front page. I love history and I love literature, and I find the news compelling, but not that compelling. Wow.
* * * * *
Completely irrelevant: when I was in kindergarten we went on a field trip to a farm and my Dad chaperoned. I remember the heat got to me and he stayed behind with me in the barn until I felt better. He bought me a orange soda from a nearby machine (a glass bottle no less - those were the days!).
I have no idea why that jumped into my head, but the whole time I was typing this post it kept hammering away at my temple, so I figured it's best to set it loose.
4 comments:
COOL and COOLER.
That building looks like an actual-sized Jenga.
Engineering degrees consistently place in the top 10 of highest-earning jobs. Last I knew, chemical and aerospace engineering were right up there at the top. Of course, it goes without saying that math skills have to be through the roof. My "thing" was more biology, and math never did much for me...I managed, but definitely not my strength!
Loved the info about The Odyssey.
I remember the machines that dispensed bottles of pop. My Dad had one at the National Guard Armory that he supervised, and it was a beautiful thing with its lighting and gleaming pop bottles. Oh yeah...I'd love to have one, even more than I'd love to have a jukebox!
Beth
Maybe the thought of the heat in Dunbia and the happy thoughts of that building made you think back on that day with your Dad...isn't funny how suddenly we can get something in our mind that at the time seems completely daft !! That building would certainly have the world in a spin !!! don't think I would like to live there though I might never know where I am !! Love Sybil xx
Hmm... I'm just not sure about that building. ?Why? would it need to rotate comes to mind, but maybe they explained in the news. And I guess if you've got the money.......
The memory of the orange soda is sweet!
Smiles, Leigh
There's a reason that most of us can't climb more than 4 flights of stairs without wheezing. I understand that people that work in skyscrapers sometimes get seasick from the displacement on windy days.
Engineering is great for people with good spatial conception as well as excellent math skills. I work with aerospace engineers every day. Unfortunately, people who go into engineering (this is a sweeping generalization) need to work on their people skills. Too much speaking hexadecimal is not good for humans.
;^) Jan the Gryphon
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