Monday, March 30, 2009

Tunnel Links New York To London


I must go and see this the next time I go to London. Basically, a long tunnel across the world filled with mirrors makes an image from London go all the way across the ocean to New York. It was designed by a rather creative artist and inventor named Paul St George, and it is called a Telectroscope.

It was possibly the most laborious and least informative interview ever
conducted. It took about five minutes, yielded a one-word answer, and gave
little real flavour of the subject.

Still - it was conducted using two
whiteboards, two marker pens, and it was done over a distance of 3,471 miles
(5,585 km). How? Well there are two answers to that.

If you believe
artist and inventor Paul St George then his "Telectroscope" connects New York
and London via a (very) long tunnel running through the earth's crust, with the
images bouncing back and forth using mirrors.

The other explanation is
that it is all done by optical fibres - take your pick. One end of the "tunnel"
emerges next to Tower Bridge on the banks of the Thames in London - the other is
next to Brooklyn Bridge on the banks of New York's East River.

It looks
like something HG Wells might have imagined. Each end has a giant telescope-like
construction which appears to punch its way out of the earth. There are dials,
and levers, and thermometer gauges on the side of the 20m long brass and wood
construction.

Peer into it and you can see people on the other side of
the Atlantic. Wave at them, they wave back at you. Write on the whiteboard, and
ask a question, and they will write back.

[via BBC news, photo, original website]


2 comments:

  1. what a waste of time, two IP cams and a satellite connection would do the trick...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, but wheres the fun in that?? =)

    ReplyDelete