Every four years we add a leap day to our calendar. This visualization explains why that is necessary. Earth physically rotates in 23hours 56min relative to distant stars – a Sidereal Day, BUT it takes 24hours to rotate relative to the Sun – a Solar Day.
The difference?
Earth orbits the Sun, so the Sun appears to move (down, in the vid), which means Earth needs +4mins to "catch up"!
John Abel, Oracle Vice President, Cloud and Technology, Emily Nagel, SailGP Performance Data Analyst, and Richard Mason, Grinder TeamGB, discuss the Oracle data points and how they influence sailing and can influence business.
The boats each use over 400 sensors to provide more than 12,000 data points.
SailGP is an annual sailing competition where seven sailing teams use F50 catamarans -- boats with 24-metre wingsails that can fly above the water on hydrofoils -- across five three-day racing events.
The races are all over the world, spanning from Sydney, Australia to Copenhagen, Denmark.
SailGP, founded by Russell Coutts and backed by Oracle founder Larry Ellison, debuted in 2019 and seeks to revolutionize the sport of sailing by bringing it to the masses.
In SailGP, five-member crews representing six countries race identical F50 foiling catamarans in the world’s most famous harbours.
Complex control systems and high-end carbon-fibre materials, combined with supreme teamwork and athleticism, enable the boats to skim the water at exhilarating speeds.
Australia won the inaugural SailGP title in 2019.
During SailGP's inaugural season that ran last year, these boats were able to reach up to 50 knots -- 92.6 kilometres per hour.
For the upcoming season, five-time America's Cup champion and SailGP CEO Russell Coutts expects the top speed for these boats to rise to around 53-54 knots.
With reaction speed and tactical maneuvering being core to the sport, Coutts said it's really important to be able to track this information in order for viewers to understand the sport.
The Australian SailGP team.
Image: Campbell Kwan/ ZDNet
SailGP's director of technology Warren Jones told ZDNet that while the races are a great display of sailing skills, viewers need to understand what is going on, and be in a position to appreciate the athletes' skills.
To achieve this, SailGP's boats are equipped with three cameras and three sets of audio to record the real-time actions of the athletes.
For the Sydney racing event, the initial collection point for the video and sound is a shipping container based in Lyne Park, Sydney, which then gets sent to a local staging area before it is moved into Oracle's cloud -- going through various replication points to mitigate against data loss.
After this, the data is sent out to consumption points such as the SailGP app, umpires, the sail teams, as well as video broadcasters.
"We knew what we wanted onshore, but it was about getting from onshore to a database that gets out to the public or wherever," Jones said.
The data also runs through an artificial intelligence mechanism that can track the amount of time a logo appears on the screen, Jones said.
This is critical, he explained, as the mechanism allows SailGP to get that information to the relevant stakeholders as fast as possible due to the race being shown on its own television production.
"Previously, we had to wait actually, in some cases, months to actually get that information accurately as crazy as that sounds.
Now with this, getting that information instantaneously it's a huge benefit because we can then actually feed that back into the production team," Jones said.
In terms of the athletes themselves, each boat has over 400 IoT sensors that provide more than 12,000 data points -- including heart rates and blood pressure -- which gives a clearer picture on what areas of fitness they need to improve on.
With data that is personal in nature, such as medical data like heart rates and blood pressure, this is treated as a "separate entity" to other data, and is protected by passwords, Jones said.
The F50's steering wheel and IoT sensors
Image: Campbell Kwan/ ZDNet
The technical information of the boats, meanwhile, is shared between teams to prevent a secret "arms race" of sorts to ensure that the outcomes of races are determined by skill and ability, as well as to lower the learning curve for new entrants into the competition.
"With the wingsail setup, for example, on one boat compared to another, you can control all the elements of the wind to twist it how you want and give it all different shapes and sizes -- one team will be using a different technique to what we'll be using so we can analyse what they're doing, and if we prefer that system or our system," said Kinley Fowler, flight controller and grinder of the Australian team.
"The learning process is so much faster; teams can analyse not only their performances, but also the performances of other teams, allowing them to see where the differences are in order to very quickly to improve," Jones said.
Oracle Hackathon at SailGP in Cowes.
Using numerous data sources, the graduate teams are tasked with manipulating and interpreting the data sets to deliver live requests from the sailing teams.
While our teams were racing on the water in Marseille, Oracle’s team was racing to analyze and find applications for the incredible amount of data coming in from the boats and spectators alike.
According to Fowler, during a practice race earlier this week, Spain was the best performer despite being a new entrant in the SailGP competition.
Fowler attributed Spain's early success to the team having access to these data points.
The next generation SailGP APP allows fans to view live data and video, track performance, compare athletes, change viewing angles, zoom in on the action and watch replays - bringing them closer to the sport than ever before.
These data points include boat speed, the various different dimensions regarding what the boat's body is doing, the direction the boat is going, the direction and speed of the wheel from various different points, the height of the boat out of the water, as well as how much time the boat is spending out of the water, among others, Scott Newman, senior director of Oracle Solutions Engineering, told ZDNet.
"The point is to give more data points to make the sport grow quicker," Fowler said.
The second season of SailGP kicks off on Friday in Sydney.
Putting marine resources on the map EU coastal member states have just over a year to come up with plans to boost the marine economy while preserving coastal ecosystems for generations to come.
An ambitious project to improve the management of marine resources across regional and international borders is underway in Europe and all over the world.
So-called Maritime Spatial Planning is designed to help governments and stakeholders alike decide what is best for their coastlines, boosting the marine economy while preserving the coastal ecosystems for generations to come.
Geographical and political scenarios in maritime spatial planning for the Azores and North Artlantic
The Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands are all benefiting from the EU-funded "MarSP" project, which is helping the islands with their planning.
Luz Paramio, Member of Azores regional government's FRCT executive board and MarSP project coordinator, explains:
"There are new uses that are appearing from the combination of various activities that can interact and share the same space in a sustainable way. And the maritime spatial planning allows us to make these marine activities compatible."
At the University of the Azores, planners combine survey responses from those who use the sea with existing data on marine resources and habitats in a geographic information system, or GIS.
Helena Calado, Professor of Maritime Spatial Planning, said all maritime industries have been involved.
Prof. Helena Calado leads the group of @uacores researchers in the @MarSP_Project that helps The Azores, Madeira and The Canaries develop their #MSP plans. The key is inviting stockholders — actual users of the sea — to participate in placing their activities on the map. @EU_MAREpic.twitter.com/SVb6VRPrq8
“We’ve asked them please draw the polygon where you practise your activity, what are the other activities that you are in conflict with and why. Then we take this information and we input it into a GIS system to support decision-making."
The plans take all factors into account — from depth levels and coastal land use to cultural artefacts and, most importantly, the ecosystems.
Sea resources can only be used in ways that preserve biodiversity, keeping marine plants and animals healthy.
The Azores are famous for whale watching, attracting tens of thousands of tourists a year.
The influx of so many whale-watching boats has the potential to create problems for the local fishing industry.
But Laura González García, head biologist of Portuguese tour company Futurismo, says there has been more cooperation than conflict.
She told Ocean: “Dolphins are feeding around the fishing boats, and the fishermen right now are telling us, ‘hey, you have the dolphins here!’ It’s a kind of collaboration even.”
Madeira finalised its plans ahead of the other Macaronesian archipelagos by resolving a conflict between its growing aquaculture business and its crucial tourism sector.
Surfers had complained about fish farms spoiling their waves, so the planners moved them to a better spot, where they unexpectedly became a magnet for scuba divers.
As for pollution concerns, the authorities are planning regular inspections.
Carlos Andrade, Head of the Marine Aquaculture Division at Madeira’s Fisheries Directorate, told Ocean: “The areas would be kept pristine, and for that we had to obviously implement the monitoring programs for it.”
Everybody wants a nice coastal area for their marine business, so even small islands face competition for sea space! In #Madeira, I talked to Carlos Andrade, head of the Mariculture center of Calheta, about how good #MSP planning can help secure islands’ future. @MarSP_Projectpic.twitter.com/VKsa9qlZlj
Most of the coastal waters to the north of Madeira's main island are protected areas for marine mammals — off-limits to economic activities.
Fish farms have been assigned to relatively small areas on the other side of the island — but with enough space to grow.
For the aquaculture companies, this certainty is important — they’ve doubled their production over the past year, and are on track to double it again.
Pedro Diniz, who manages a fish farm off Madeira, said: "For us it's confidence that we have a space for certain time. We won’t be forced to leave this place, as this is a very good spot."
The maritime spatial plans span from the shoreline to the outer limits of the regional and national maritime zones.
They will be updated every few years to include new business opportunities, such as offshore wind farms.
* It includes 14 demonstrators (single turbine or announced as demonstrator by developer). Source: Wind Europe 2019
Manuel Ara Oliveira, Madeira’s environmental and climate change director, said: "The fact that our plan is ready means that we can start working on reviewing it with more knowledge, more capacity, more sharing and more cooperation with the neighbouring archipelagos — the Canaries and the Azores."
Finding compromise solutions with neighbours is not always easy so the European Commission and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO have set up MSPGlobal — an initiative to promote maritime spatial planning worldwide, sharing the experience between Europe and other regions.
At a training workshop in Toulon, French and Algerian specialists conduct an "MSP Challenge" exercise simulating a busy maritime border between three fictitious countries with conflicting interests.
It’s the kind of problem Maritime Spatial Planners need to solve — especially in areas such as northern Europe, where there is intensive use of limited marine space.
Alejandro Iglesias Campos, a program specialist with UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, told Ocean: "All activities that are across borders — maritime transportation, tourism, but also biodiversity, all marine protected areas — the challenge here will be how to manage these different activities, across borders, in a sustainable way."
The MSP Challenge board game (https://www.msp-platform.eu/practices...) is a table-top strategy game where different maritime activities, represented by colourful tiles, share the same fictitious sea basin.
Three teams, playing for three competing regions, must work together to find a way to develop their economies while preserving the fragile ecosystems.
Las Canteras beach in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is both a marine reserve and a tourist hotspot for snorkelers and divers - an example of how such planning has combined sustainable economic growth with preservation of nature.
Fernando Tuya, assistant professor in marine biology at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, said people want to enjoy a healthy environment.
“In the middle of big cities we can get perfect places for conservation, perfect places for leisure time, and we can combine both things at the same time,” he said.
Meanwhile an EU-funded project, PLASMAR, is developing a decision-support system to better protect nature and optimise the use of marine space.
.@AbramicAndrej is leading the @PPlasmar project that builds a computerised decision support system for #MSP. An EU directive obliges all coastal member states to develop their MSP plans by March 2021 — but there are good reasons to do so besides the directive. @MarSP_Projectpic.twitter.com/kWplr9YKim
It shows how suitable a certain area is for a given sector, based on its oceanography, maritime activities, coastal land use, conservation needs and other factors.
Maritime Spatial Planners also have to integrate newcomers in marine areas, like offshore wind farms.
Trials are already underway at the PLOCAN test site in Gran Canaria. Researchers are convinced that turbines at sea don't have to get in the way of other sectors.
A sort of a "wind tunnel" between the Canary Islands makes the archipelago a promising site for offshore wind energy. I asked José Joaquín Hernández-Brito, the head of @plocan where the first local turbines are tested, how to boost this energy source here. @MarSP_Projectpic.twitter.com/TqqdmqLHPE
José Joaquín Hernández-Brito, chief executive of Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands, said: "We’re working in projects in such a way that the fisheries can do their work inside, between the space within turbines, or even putting aquaculture in the middle — so the question is to develop the technologies."
The EU coastal member states have until the end of March 2021 to finalise their maritime spatial plans.
Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) in a nutshell from GRID-Arendal Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) is spreading across the globe as a new way of achieving sustainable development of the world’s seas and oceans. But what does MSP actually mean?
How does it work? “Marine Spatial Planning – in a nutshell” is a five-minute film that explains MSP simply and dynamically. It is suitable for everyone: from local communities to planners and policy-makers. This film has been financed by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety through its International Climate Initiative.
It has been jointly produced by the global Blue Solutions Initiative and the MARISMA project in the Benguela Current region.
Google Maps turned 15 years old this month, & it may be an appropriate time to compare it with similar systems in other industries, like the ECDIS
Humans have been using maps for thousands of years.
It is therefore not surprising that ‘Cartography’ as a subject exists, which is the art and science of making maps.
The oldest known maps are preserved on Babylonian tablets from 2300 BC.
They were later depicted on scrolls and paper.
But it’s not until the electronic age that maps have come alive.
Google Maps and ECDIS (Electronic Chart Display and Information System) can be considered to essentially serve the same purpose.
While Google Maps is used for finding our way on land, the ECDIS facilitates navigation at sea.
At a basic level both show us maps in an electronic form, indicate where we are and can provide a route if we can specify a destination.
Google Maps turned 15 years old this month and it may be an appropriate time to compare it with similar systems in other industries, hence the comparison with ECDIS.
ECDIS
While the ECDIS was in voluntary use for many years, it was never free to use.
It became mandatory for HSC (High Speed Craft) on the 1st of July 2008.
Subsequently, the mandatory carriage of ECDIS for other ships depending on the ship type, size and construction date, (as required by SOLAS regulation V/19.2.10) commenced in a phased manner from 1 July 2012 onwards.
ECDIS is regulated because it is considered a complex, safety-relevant, software-based system with multiple options for display and integration.
The ongoing safe and effective use of ECDIS involves many stakeholders including seafarers, equipment manufacturers, chart producers, hardware and software maintenance providers, shipowners and operators, and training providers.
Over the years, IMO (International Maritime Organisation) Member States, hydrographic offices, equipment manufacturers and other organizations have contributed to the development of guidance on a variety of ECDIS-related matters and was accepted as meeting the chart carriage requirements of SOLAS regulation V/19 in 2002.
GOOGLE MAPS
Google Maps was launched as a super easy and useful way for people to get around.
However, it is the pace at which features, and capabilities have evolved that makes it an unbelievable experience.
It is not only a website or application that gets us from A to B, using the fastest or shortest route, it allows web developers easy access APIs to put google maps on their own sites.
With over 1 billion users per month the adoption and use rate is very high because one can virtually never get lost.
For 200 million businesses worldwide, it provides, opening hours, ratings, prices etc, which provides relevance to data and makes life easier.
Google maps has made it easier for business to manage their presence, update their business info, put up pictures, respond to reviews, etc.
The local guides program which is 120 million strong, share reviews, photos and knowledge about places around the world.
For those with mobility needs Google maps offers wheel-chair accessible routes for over 50 million places.
Augmented reality helps you to understand which way to walk, with arrows and directions overlaid.
Google Maps gets new updates for 15th birthday
Things to ponder over
Google Maps achieved all this innovation by providing it for free, but for how long?
Does regulation in ECDIS stifle its innovation?
If it were not mandatory would the ECDIS survive in the market?
How much reliance & trust do we have on things we receive for free?
Besides showing us the shortest and fastest route, would the greenest route be of interest?
Researchers first spotted this rocky outcrop in Pine Island Bay, West Antarctica, in early February. A mate on the bridge spotted some rocky coastline. This island is on no charts : we call it Sif.
An uncharted island off Antarctica’s western coast could reveal how climate change is altering the continent.
A scientific expedition off the coast of Antarctica earlier this month spotted an island that appears on no maps — a finding that demonstrates how quickly the continent is changing as a result of climate change.
“I think I see rocks,” shouted an officer aboard the RV Nathaniel B. Palmer as the ship passed through Pine Island Bay, Antarctica.
After consulting their charts, the crew realized they were looking at a brand-new island.
There was a commotion as everyone onboard rushed to see the rocky, ice-covered outcrop and suggest potential names.
But the hubbub quickly gave way to excitement about the scientific implications of the find, says Julia Wellner, a marine geologist at the University of Houston in Texas.
The island was sighted from Nathaniel B. Palmer, currently in the Antarctic for @GlacierThwaites THOR, project leads Julia Wellner (UH) and Rob Larter (BAS).
Photo_CD Hillenbrand (BAS)
Wellner is one of the principal investigators of the Thwaites Glacier Offshore Research project, part of an international collaboration to study the stability of a massive glacier in West Antarctica.
An expedition to collect samples from the exposed shoreline has thus far been hampered by bad weather, but Wellner says that surveying the island is one of the science team’s top priorities.
Although the island is big enough to be visible by satellite, its icy cap helped it escape previous detection.
And because very few ships travel that far south, Wellner’s team is probably the first to set eyes on it.
Researchers don’t yet know how long it has been above sea level, but it is likely that the land was exposed thanks to climate change.
Pine Island Bay with the GeoGarage platform (NGA nautical raster chart)
On the rebound
As glaciers have retreated in West Antarctica, they have released pressure on Earth’s crust, allowing it to rebound and rise, explains Lindsay Prothro, a glacial geologist at Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi.
Collecting samples from the new island could help researchers determine how fast the continent is lifting, which should improve how they model the behaviour of nearby glaciers.
Rapid rebound could increase stress on the remaining ice sheet, causing it to break apart more quickly, says Lauren Simkins, a glacial geologist at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.
But a rising continental shelf could also anchor glaciers, increasing their stability and slowing their march to the sea.
The island, Simkins says, could provide a nice real-world case study.
New islands emerging as ice sheets retreat is not particularly surprising, says Paul Cutler, a programme director in glaciology at the US National Science Foundation in Alexandria, Virginia.
New islands have appeared over the past few years in the Canadian Arctic and Greenland.
But it is, he says, an exciting opportunity to piece together the geological history of a vastly under-studied region of Earth.
It will be more than a month before even preliminary results emerge: the Palmer is not due back in port until 25 March.
But glacier scientists are excited about the possibilities that the discovery raises for their field.
“This one island could hold a lot of clues,” Simkins says
