Addressing the European technology gap
The ancient Sumerians used a potter’s wheel and may have invented it. A stone pottery wheel found in the city-state of Ur dates to around 3,429 BCE, and even older fragments of wheel-thrown pottery have been found in the same area. Fast potters’ wheels enabled early mass production of pottery, but it was the use of the wheel as a transformer of energy that revolutionized the application of nonhuman power sources. The first two-wheeled carts were derived from travois and were first used in Mesopotamia and Iran in around 3,000 BCE. The Neolithic Revolution brought about an acceleration of technological innovation, and a consequent increase in social complexity. The invention of the polished stone axe was a major advance that allowed large-scale forest clearance and farming.
PRATTVILLE, Ala. — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Tuesday awarded an $82.45 million grant for what she said will be a transformative project to expand broadband service in the state. Ivey said the grant will be used by Fiber Utility Network, a corporation formed by eight rural electric cooperatives to fund a “middle-mile” broadband network to help close gaps in service. FRANKFURT, Germany — Volkswagen was nearing the finish line Wednesday as it readied …