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A device that measures angular distance between 2 visible objects, was found in unpublished writings of Issac Newton (developed version of the astolabe)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

uses 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

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