Viking Magazine - August 2019 - 20

ideas
digital
revolution
Norway
wholeheartedly
welcomes the
Digital Age in
a plan to scan
and digitize
the National
Library's entire
collection on the
Internet. That's the
entire collection,
from books to
newspapers,
pictures to reports
to Storting,
everything from
the Middle Ages to
today. The initiative
was fi rst launched
in 2006 and is
estimated to take
roughly 20 to 30
years for complete
digitization. By
2012, the library
had already
digitized 350,000
newspaper copies,
235,000 books,
and 240,000 pages
of handwritten
manuscripts. Only
Internet users
with a Norwegian
IP address can
access all materials,
copyrighted and
non-copyrighted-
but everyone will
be able to access
non-copyrighted
materials for free.
nb.no
a royal interest
in innovation
Trade, industry and innovation
are special areas of interest for
Crown Prince Haakon, particularly
in terms of entrepreneurship and
the green transition. Through
the years, Prince Haakon has
paid many visits to companies
in Norway and attended
international conferences for
entrepreneurs and innovators,
such as Oslo Innovation Week.
the world's most secretive library
In 2114, wood from 1,000 spruce trees in Nordmarka forest will be
turned into paper and used to print an anthology of 100 books.
Future Library, a time capsule-like project, was started in 2014 by
artist Katie Paterson, who wanted to create an original library of 100
manuscripts from established authors, but only to be printed and
read in 100 years' time. So far, fi ve authors have been selected and
contributed a book to the Future Library-Margaret Atwood, David
Mitchell, Sjón, Elif Shafak and Han Kang. futurelibrary.no
saving the world's seeds
Built as a safeguard
against crop failure from
a global catastrophe, the
Svalbard Global Seed
Vault is a vital tool for
the future conservation
of plant species. Its
location, at 78 degrees
North, is seismically
With 31
state-ofthe-art
antenna
systems,
SvalStat
is
the world's
largest
commercial
ground
station.
state-of-the-art satellites
Norway is ideal for space technology
and exploration due to many factors,
including its geography, climate and
coastal borders. Located at the top
of the world, the country is also well
positioned to study many space and
atmospheric phenomena, such as
the northern lights. In fact, Norway's
Svalbard Satellite Station is
recognized as the world's best-located
ground station for satellite control. The
high latitude of 78 degrees North means
that the station, which goes as SvalSat
for short, can download data for all 14
of the daily revolutions of polar-orbiting
satellites, collecting information on
things like weather and vessel detection.
With advanced technology and skillful
engineers and operators, it's clear as
the night sky that SvalSat has rocketed
to a cutting-edge status in the space
industry. kongsberg.com/ksat
// INNOVATIVE IDEAS //
forward-thinking concepts for a better tomorrow
BY KATE MURPHY
stable and unlikely to be
at risk of fl ooding from
rising sea levels. Plus, the
permafrost surrounding
the vault helps maintain
the ideal conditions for
keeping the packets of
seeds viable. This natural
freezing system provides
a cost-effective and failsafe
method to conserve
the seeds for long-term
storage. Currently, the
vault has more than
1 million samples,
originating from
countries all around the
world. croptrust.org
PHOTO BY HEMIS / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
AUTHOR PHOTOS BY (LEFT TO RIGHT, ALL COURTESY ALAMY STOCK PHOTO): SUEDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG PHOTO,
GARY DOAK, SUEDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG PHOTO, MARTINA BOCCHIO, DPA PICTURE ALLIANCE ARCHIVE
SVALSAT PHOTOS BY (LEFT TO RIGHT) EYE UBIQUITOUS / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO, KILIAN MUNCH / KONGSBERG

http://www.kongsberg.com/ksat http://www.futurelibrary.no http://www.nb.no http://www.croptrust.org

Viking Magazine - August 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Viking Magazine - August 2019