Skip to Content
Uncategorized

Google Earth’s Lessons in Wave Mechanics

A close look at Google’s virtual globe reveals almost unlimited examples of the way waves behave.

Google Earth provides a cornucopia of exotic images of our planet taken from above. For the most part, the focus of attention is on the land and the cities, roads and natural formations that it supports.

Today, however, Fabrizio Logiurato at Trento University in Italy says that Google’s images of the oceans are just as fascinating.

Logiurato’s interest is in the wave dynamics that the images reveal. To demonstrate this, he has selected a gallery of beautiful images showing phenomena such as diffraction, refraction and interference.

For example, the image above shows how wave diffraction has caused circular beach erosion on the Italian coast at Campo Di Mare. I’ve pasted a few more of the examples he’s chosen below.

These kinds of phenomena are so widespread that he suggests asking students to search for examples of these phenomena in Google Earth as a way of teaching them about waves.

An excellent idea!

Ref: arxiv.org/abs/1201.0001: Teaching Waves with Google Earth

Interference on the Chao Phraya River, Bangkok, Thailand
Diffraction and the reflection of circular waves at Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Wave diffraction through an opening at the port of Alexandria in Egypt
Wave refraction, in which the wave fronts bend as they approach a beach at Sardegna, Italy

Keep Reading

Most Popular

Geoffrey Hinton tells us why he’s now scared of the tech he helped build

“I have suddenly switched my views on whether these things are going to be more intelligent than us.”

ChatGPT is going to change education, not destroy it

The narrative around cheating students doesn’t tell the whole story. Meet the teachers who think generative AI could actually make learning better.

Meet the people who use Notion to plan their whole lives

The workplace tool’s appeal extends far beyond organizing work projects. Many users find it’s just as useful for managing their free time.

Learning to code isn’t enough

Historically, learn-to-code efforts have provided opportunities for the few, but new efforts are aiming to be inclusive.

Stay connected

Illustration by Rose Wong

Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review

Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.

Thank you for submitting your email!

Explore more newsletters

It looks like something went wrong.

We’re having trouble saving your preferences. Try refreshing this page and updating them one more time. If you continue to get this message, reach out to us at customer-service@technologyreview.com with a list of newsletters you’d like to receive.