Pangaea Archives
Alexa, Survey This Parcel
I’ve been thinking about the issue of automation and robots and their impact on the geospatial profession. I think it’s good news. So, let’s get started on dispelling the idea that “the ‘bots are coming for my job!” Here are two reasons why that’s not going to happen. 1) Everything I’m reading and observing argues […]
Big Bird + Black Ice = Space 2.1
First off, let’s decipher that headline, starting at the end. Space 2.0 (AKA “NewSpace”) is the catch-all phrase that describes the privatization of space and the companies, platforms, and technologies that come with it. We’ll get to the “2.1” in a minute. Big Bird is the nickname given the world’s largest aircraft (by wingspan, 385’) […]
Rocket Billionaires
Here’s a great example of serendipity. Not so long ago I took a break from my daily routine and flipped on the TV. The set was tuned to the science channel, and just as the screen flickered to life I beheld the sight of the first launch of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy as it lifted off. […]
Find Your Home – on Pangaea
First, a bit of “geosplaining.” When we started this newsletter we looked for a name that had a “geo” feel without having geo in the name. For those who don’t follow geology, Pangaea was the most recent supercontinent which was formed roughly 200 to 250 million years ago, according to the plate tectonics theory. Flash […]
Got GPS? Thank Hedy Lamarr
I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right. Hedy Lamarr, the gorgeous and glamorous Hollywood star of the ‘30s and ‘40s, had nothing to do with the invention of GPS. She did, however, invent a technology that underpins almost all modern communications. Lamarr and avant-garde composer George Antheil invented and patented a technology that Bluetooth, […]
In the Blink of an AI
If we were to believe Steven Spielberg’s version of the future, curiously, robots can’t blink. It seems like mechas, as the life-like robots in his movie AI: Artificial Intelligence are called, lack the AI codes to involuntarily close and open their mechanical eyelids. Notice how almost all robots in Hollywood movies follow the same no-blinking pattern. Watch The Terminator movies, if you don’t […]