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World's first GPS-free quantum navigation trial succeeds at sea (interestingengineering.com)
submitted 5 days ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] 47 points 5 days ago (1 child)

Don't these fields fluctuate in some currently not understood way?

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  • [–] 48 points 5 days ago (1 child)

    Yes, constantly. The prepared map becomes less accurate over time.

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  • [–] 24 points 5 days ago (2 children)

    So you constantly need updated maps. Reminds me of celestial navigation where you always need an up-to-date almanac.

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  • [–] 8 points 5 days ago (1 child)

    But how do you get your position to update your map? Oh... GPS will work!

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  • [–] 6 points 5 days ago (1 child)

    What? You just download a new map for the area you want to go to every year or so, no need for GPS

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  • [–] 3 points 4 days ago (1 child)

    I'm not sure you got me. How do the map makers update the map? If the gravity variance changes so it can't be used to determine your position then clearly you need some other way to determine your position to update the gravity map. And what might that be??

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  • [–] 5 points 4 days ago (1 child)

    Using the same reference points on earth that GPS uses, that doesn't mean using GPS.

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  • [–] 3 points 4 days ago (1 child)

    That doesn't work too well out in the ocean and lots of other places too. If you can't use your gravity map, you're gonna use GPS for precise position data.

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