WSC 2026 (last 5)

Magnetic compass

A direction finding tool that uses a magnetic tool that was invented in China (there is a discrepancy between Magnetic North and True North)

Gyrocompass

A compass that uses Earth’s rotation to point true north (avoids discrepancy)

Astrolabe

An astornomical instrument used to measure the altitude of the sun or stars and to determine time and lattitude

Sextatnt

A device that measures angular distance between 2 visible objects, was found in unpublished writings of Issac Newton (developed version of the astolabe)

Log Tables

対数表、helped with calculations and to find the position of celestial bodies

Ephemerides

Book with tables that give the trajectory of stars

Log and line

used for determining a ship’s speed

Chronometer

A precise time keeping tool for maritime navigation, invented by Jeremy Thacker

Magnetoreception

ability of oranisms to sense the earth’s magnetic field

Cryptochrome

blue light-sensitive proteins found in animals that are involved in the sensing of magnetic fields

Olfactory navigation

navigating using smell (used by passenger pigeons)

Echolocation

Animals using SONAR to navigate (duh)

Zugunruhe

anxious behavior in migratory animals when they are kept enclosed during migratory periods

Constant frequency

a wave with a constant frequency

sunlight polarization

the way sunlight becomes partially aligned in a specific direction after interacting with Earth’s atmosphere

spatial memory

brain stores and retrieves info regarding navigation and the physical spaces around an individual

Indigo Buntings （特徴）

migrates to central america from USA during winter, navigate using the North Pole Stars

Dung Beetles （特徴）

Rolls dung to attract femal mates, must be fast, must roll in a straight line, uses the milky way to follow a straight path because it is very visible in South Africa

Honeybees （特徴）

Follow linear landmarks to find their hive, use Olfactory navigation and changes in polarization of light

Sea turtles （特徴）

use variations in Eath’s magnetic field to navigate to nesting areas (each geo area has a distinctive magnetic pattern!)

Dessert Ants （特徴）

uses a step counter, sky compasses, olfactory and other methods to navigate

Nainoa Thompson

A native hawaiian navigator who revived traditional Polynesian methods of navigation

Inuit Navigation

Navigation styles using the night sky and other markers to find their way, even in a landscape white with snow and ice

Viking navigation

navigation system using a “sunstone” that showed the position of the sun even on cloudy days through the polorization of light

Fog of the World

An app that tracks your exploration, uncovering areas from clouds as you explore them

The Terminal (Film)

-Depicts a person who travelled to the US only to find that his country had collapsed, making his passport invalid

-He can’t go back nor enter the US

-He starts living in the terminal

Mehran Karimi Nasser

The model of The Terminal, an Iranian refugee that resided in Paris’s Charles de Gaulle Airport

Edward Snowden

A former national security agent who spent 6 weeks hiding in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport after leaking documents showing the existence of global surveillance programs

St. Louis

a ship carrying Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany to escape the holocaust

Macadam

a road constructed with crushed stones placed in layers then covered with cement and tar

Pavement

the surace of a road covered with conctrete or tarmac

Asphalt (Bitumen)

Materials used to make the surface of roads

Corduroy Road (Log Road)

Made by placing logs perpendicular to the direction of the road, used in swampy or muddy areas

Gallery Road (Cliff Roads or Plank Roads)

Often used in China, made up of wooden planks fastened into cliff sides

Holloway Roads (Sunken Lane)

A road that is significantly lower than the land on either side

ridgeway

a road using hard surace of hilltops as unpaved roads

mile stones

markers that show distance from/to a town or city

Trackway

a path formed by people walking over an area repeatedly

Solar Roadways

Roads using solar panels instead of asphalt

Piezoelectric materials

Materials that generate an electric charge from a mechanical force (japan is turning footsteps into electricity kinda stuff)

Inductive Charging

Wireless charging

DSRC (Dedicated short-range communications)

A wireless communication technology designed for vehicles, allows cars and roadside units to exchange data quicly over a short distance (such as ETC)

Self-healing asphalt

Repairs cracks automatically

Modular pavement

Consists of small modules similar to bricks or tiles
Makes repair easier and faster

Permeable pavement

made of porous materials allowing water drainage, prevents cracks from forming due to water pooling

Traveling salesman problem

A problem where you must find the shortest possible route that visits each location exactly once and returns to the starting point

Vector-based navigation

a method of guiding movement using direction and distance, rather than fixed paths or step‑by‑step instructions. It uses continuous updates of movement.

Explore-Exploit Problem

A decision-making dilemma where you must choose between new and known options

Desire paths

the physical evidence of shortest distance between two points

Route elasticity

Describes how sensitive travel demand is to changes in a specific route’s characteristics

Braess’s Paradox

a situation where adding a new road makes overall traffic worse (individuals overload the new link and create a worse equilibrium for everyone)

dead reckoning

a navigation method where you estimate your current position based on a previously know position, plus your speed, direction, and time traveled.

the Steiner Tree Problem

Minimising network connection length

stroad

a dangerous, inefficent hybrid of a street and a road

Route 66 (THe mother road, America’s Main Street)

A historic US highway that runs through eight states, from Illinois to California. It became a major route for people migrating west during the Great Depression

Heritage Tourism

travel focused on visiting historical site

Ecotourism

Enviromentally responsible travel

Gastrotourism

Traveling to enjoy the destination’s cultural food

Agritourism

Farm-based tourism

Monastic Retreats

Spiritual Isolation Periods

voluntourism

volunteering while travelling

edutourism

a form of tourism that combines travel with learning

wellness retreats

a getaway intended to improve well-being

dark tourism

visiting of sites associated with death

entrepots

a trading center where goods are imported, stored, and then re-exported

Waystations

a stopping point used during a journey

Free-trade zones

areas with reduced trade barriers

transshipment

the shipment of goods to an intermediate destination, then to another destination

caravanserai

roadside inn for traders

silk road

ancient eurasian trade network

Piraeus / Tyre / Lothal / Carthage / Malacca / Istanbul / Chicago / Hong Kong

major historical or modern trade hubs

Shimoda, Hakodate

Japanese treaty ports

fusion power

Energy from atomic production

Nishiyama Onsen Kiunkan

world’s oldest hotel and oldest operating buisness

The Grand Tour

an expensive tour around Europe for English aristocrats

The Golden Age of Travel Starts with You

Campain by the US dept. Of Transportation to restore courtesy and class to air travel, started from 2025

Xiaohongsh

Chinese equivalent of Instagram known for promoting niche tourist sites

graphene

ultra-strong carbon material

nanotechnology

the understanding and control of matter at the nanoscale

artifical general intelligence

human level ai

organoids

minature lab-grown organs

bioprinting

the use of 3D printing tech to produce tissues

plasma transfusion

a medical treatment where the liquid part of blood (plasma) is take from a healthy donor and given to a patient

senotherapeutics

Treatments that target and manage senescent cells that accumulate with age and cause tissue disfunction

cellular reprogramming

the resetting of the age of a cell

cellular rejuvenation

the process of repairing age-related damage within cells to restore them to a youthful, functional state

telomere extension

the process of lengthening telemores so cells can stay healthy and divide longer

caloric restriction

reducing daily calorie intake to extend lifespan

digital immortality

the concept of perserving a person’s consciousness in a digital format like AI

cryonics

the freezing of dead bodies aimed at reviving them when furture technology allows

Wardenclyffe Tower

a tower that Tesla was trying create which allows global, wireless communication

the sunk cost fallacy

our tendancy to follow through with something that we’ve already invested heavily in, even when giving up is clearly a better idea

the dichotomy paradox

a paradox which states that in order to reach a destination, one must travel half the distance, then half of the remaining, and so on—but then they’ll never get there.