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Future World
M Z Karim:
Future World : Sweden becomes the first oil-free country
This has been achieved through large-scale investments in renewable energy, huge tax incentives and grants for scientific research, along with a strict programme of energy conservation. The country is dominated by zero-carbon technologies and has now almost completely rid itself of gasoline cars and oil-heated homes.* From 2020 onwards, Sweden experiences great prosperity.
M Z Karim:
Future World : Completion of the Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link
The Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link is an 18 km (11 mi) tunnel connecting the German offshore island of Fehmarn with the Danish island of Lolland. Originally planned as a bridge, it was later announced that a tunnel was preferable, as it would have fewer construction risks, a reduced environmental impact and independence from weather conditions. The costs would be broadly similar.
The Danish government approved the project by a large parliamentary majority in 2011. However, it required the passage of a Construction Act, along with further legislation in both countries that wasn't completed until 2013.
With final approval, construction began in 2014, finishing in 2020. Precast concrete tunnel sections were utilised, with a rectangular cross-section about 40 metres wide and 10 metres high, containing four separate passageways (two for cars and two for trains), plus a small service passageway. The total cost of the project is €5.5 billion and it has a technical lifespan of 120 years.
Fehmarn Island was already connected by bridge with the German mainland, and Lolland was already connected by bridge with Zealand. Furthermore, Zealand was already connected with the Swedish coast, via the Øresund Bridge. However, there was no link between Fehmarn Island and Lolland until now. The Fehmarn Belt fixed link, therefore, provides a far more direct route from Germany to Sweden and Norway.
Travel times between Scandinavia and continental Europe are in fact substantially reduced: the ferry transit that was required previously took 45 minutes (plus waiting time), but car drivers now require a mere 10 minutes, while train passengers can complete the journey in no more than 7 minutes. The duration of a train journey between Hamburg and Copenhagen is cut from around 4.5 to 3 hours.
M Z Karim:
Future World : Public smoking is banned across every US state
The number of states with comprehensive indoor smoking bans went from zero in 2000, to 25 in 2010. The success of the anti-smoking lobby continued, with every state having a ban in place by 2020.* Many other countries around the world are enacting similar measures now. The health effects of secondhand smoke have been well-documented. In the US alone, they caused 46,000 heart-related deaths and 3,400 lung cancer deaths in 2010.
M Z Karim:
Future World : BepiColombo arrives in orbit around Mercury
BepiColombo is a joint mission between the European and Japanese space agencies. It is only the third mission to study Mercury at close range - and only the second to enter into orbit around the planet. Consisting of a rocket component and two science probes, the mission is launched in 2014. It performs a total of seven flybys around Earth, Venus and Mercury before orbital insertion in 2020.* It is the most comprehensive on-location study of Mercury so far, with 12 specific objectives:
What can be learned from Mercury about the composition of the solar nebula and the formation of the planetary system?
Why is Mercury's normalised density markedly higher than that of all other terrestrial planets, Moon included?
Is the core of Mercury liquid or solid?
Is Mercury tectonically active today?
Why does such a small planet possess an intrinsic magnetic field, while Venus, Mars and the Moon do not have any?
Why do spectroscopic observations not reveal the presence of any iron, while this element is supposedly the major constituent of Mercury?
Do the permanently shadowed craters of the polar regions contain sulphur or water ice?
Is the unseen hemisphere of Mercury markedly different from that imaged by Mariner 10?
What are the production mechanisms of the exosphere?
In the absence of any ionosphere, how does the magnetic field interact with the solar wind?
Is Mercury's magnetised environment characterised by features reminiscent of the aurorae, radiation belts and magnetospheric substorms observed at Earth?
Since the advance of Mercury's perihelion was explained in terms of space-time curvature, can we take advantage of the proximity of the Sun to test general relativity with improved accuracy?
The European contribution, Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO), studies the surface and internal composition, while the Japanese portion, Mercury Magnetosphere Orbiter (MMO), analyses the magnetosphere and atmosphere. A new form of ion engine is used for the propulsion system.
arefin:
:)
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