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This is why we call it the Extremely Large Telescope!
This photo shows the massive structure that will hold the main mirror of our ELT. It was taken when the construction reached an important milestone: for the first time, the telescope’s structure was rotated horizontally by a few centimetres... by hand!
Read more: eso.org/public/images/potw2627…
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📷 ESO/Cimolai
#astrodon #astronomy #astrophysics #space #science #engineering
🚗 TIL: Before GPS was fully operational, Honda built a car navigation system that used zero satellites.
In 1981, the Honda Electro Gyrocator debuted as a dealer option on the Accord. You placed a transparent plastic map over a small CRT screen and marked your starting point.
As you drove, a helium gas-rate gyroscope detected turns: helium flow shifted between two heated wires, creating a temperature difference the computer read as direction. A transmission sensor tracked distance. A 16-bit computer combined both to move a dot across the map showing your position.
Not perfect. Wheel spin and drift compounded, so you could pull over and manually realign. The IEEE designated it a Milestone in 2017 as the world's first map-based car navigation system, 14 years before GPS.
The catch: it cost about $2,746 (nearly a quarter of the car's price). It only lasted one year.
Read more:
spectrum.ieee.org/first-mapbas…
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electro_…
global.honda/en/heritage/episo…
#TIL #Honda #engineering #history
First Map-Based Car Navigation System Debuted 14 Years Before GPS
Released in 1981, Honda’s Electro Gyrocator is now an IEEE MilestoneIvan Berger (IEEE Spectrum)
