[{"totalItems":"33,298","totalPages":11100,"currentPage":0,"items":[{"id":"phhg4e\/node\/236585","site":"https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/","hash":"phhg4e","entity_id":236585,"entity_type":"node","bundle":"basic_content","bundle_name":"Basic content","ss_language":"und","path":"node\/236585","url":"https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/turn-off-google-location-tracking","path_alias":"turn-off-google-location-tracking","label":"What you can do to prevent Google\u2014and others\u2014from tracking your phone","content":" Location, location, location. Take charge of whether or not Google, and other apps and services, is tracking your location. Photo by Henry Marsh from Pexels It\u2019s natural to want to limit the ways your smartphone tracks your location. Of course, carrying a device whose main purpose is to connect to networks\u2014like through Wi-Fi, GPS, cell towers, and Bluetooth\u2014and at the same time expecting to keep your location private can be tricky. This topic was thrown into sharp relief by a report by the Associated Press that pointed out that even if a setting called \u201cLocation History\u201d is switched off in your Google account, that company may still have a record of where you\u2019ve been physically, thanks to another setting called \u201cWeb & App Activity.\u201d A Google spokesperson confirmed the location issue in an emailed statement: \u201cLocation History is a Google product that is entirely opt in, and users have the controls to edit, delete, or turn it off at any time. As the [AP] story notes, we make sure Location History users know that when they disable the product, we continue to use location to improve the Google experience when they do things like perform a Google search or use Google for driving directions." If you want to minimize the extent to which your phone tracks you, here are some basic actions to help protect your privacy. Step 1: Start with Google settings To work towards shutting down Google\u2019s ability to know where you are, the first step is to sign into your account. It might be easiest to do this on a desktop. In your browser, go to myactivity.google.com, then click on Activity controls, which will be to the left if you\u2019re using Chrome. At the top, you\u2019ll see a box for Web & App Activity. Turn it off (or in Google\u2019s somewhat distressing lingo, \u201cpause\u201d it). If you\u2019re using Safari, you can find Activity controls under the three dots at the top towards the right. When you\u2019re on the Web & App Activity page, look for an option at left that says \u201cDelete activity by\u201d to manage Google\u2019s records on your actions. Next, in the box below Web and App Activity, you\u2019ll see another field called Location History. Switch that off. In that same area, you should see a link to \u201cmanage activity.\u201d Clicking there will take you to what Google calls the Timeline; it has a map view and information about where you\u2019ve been. A gear icon at the bottom right gives you further options, including how to delete your whole location history. Step 2: For Android If you\u2019re an Android smartphone user, you can take additional steps on that mobile device. Under Settings, navigate to Security & Location. Scroll down to the Privacy section, then to Location, and click on it. At the very bottom, click on Google Location History. If you\u2019ve switched that off from your browser during the previous step, it should also be off here. After checking that, go back to the main Location page on your phone by hitting the back arrow at upper left. At the top of the Location page, there\u2019s a toggle to switch off all location services. Turn it off if you want, or leave it on and specifically manage what apps can and cannot use your location by clicking on \u201cApp-level permissions.\u201d Going to that screen allows you to turn off the location access that Google Maps has, for example. If you do this, test it by launching the Map app and try to have it detect your location. You\u2019ll get a prompt that asks \u201cAllow Maps to access this device\u2019s location?\u201d You can also turn off location permission for your camera on that same app-level permission page, meaning that your phone shouldn\u2019t know where you are when you snap a pic and thus won\u2019t include that in the image\u2019s metadata. Apps with access to your photos can piece together a rough idea of your location data by analyzing the geotags on your photos. Step 2: For iPhones Managing what your iPhone knows about your location is a similar process: Go to Settings, Privacy, and then Location Services. From there you can turn it off entirely, or manage what individual apps are allowed to take advantage of location data. You\u2019ll see three options for most apps: \u201cNever,\u201d \u201cWhile Using the App,\u201d or \u201cAlways.\u201d When in doubt, \u201cWhile Using the App\u201d is a safer option than \u201cAlways,\u201d and of course, \u201cNever\u201d shuts things down entirely for that app\u2019s location awareness. If you\u2019re specifically concerned about Google products, look for the apps made by Google on this list: Google Calendar, Home, Maps, and News may be installed. Manage them as you want. You can even control location data in the phone\u2019s default browser via the \u201cSafari Websites\u201d item. Finally, at the very bottom, there\u2019s an option for \u201cSystem Services.\u201d You\u2019ll find a slew of other phone services there that you can decide whether or not you want to allow to know your location, including \u201cSignificant Locations\u201d at the bottom. Clicking through to that will allow you to learn what your phone has in turn learned about where you\u2019ve been, although it notes that \u201cSignificant Locations are encrypted and cannot be read by Apple.\u201d As a general rule, your phone will become less functional as you disable location services: if you want your Google Map app to know where you are when you push the little compass-like icon at bottom right, you\u2019ll need to at least enable location services for it while you\u2019re using the app. What else to keep in mind? \u201cGoogle has too strong of a grip on the Android ecosystem, and by the same token Apple has a very strong grip on the iOS ecosystem,\u201d Sean O\u2019Brien, a member of the Yale Privacy Lab, says. \u201cThey dictate what users can and can\u2019t see in the user interface.\u201d In other words, in this instance with Google, users who had Location History off but Web & App Activity on were likely surprised that their location was still tracked via that second category. \u201cThe chain of trust between the distributor of the software, which is Google in this case, and the end user, is just broken,\u201d O\u2019Brien adds. Still concerned about privacy and security? You can consider deleting apps you don\u2019t use, using an encrypted communications service like Signal, or fighting surveillance by reading up on what the Electronic Frontier Foundation recommends. And O\u2019Brien suggests installing F-Droid on Android phones, and using that instead of the Google Play store to get apps. That\u2019s because he says that F-Droid is \u201caudited by volunteers,\u201d whereas, he adds, \u201cGoogle has proven to be a poor steward of the Play Store.\u201d Finally, consider auditing your privacy settings on key social networks, like Facebook: pay special attention to what apps and websites you\u2019ve integrated into your account, and remove them as you see fit. To do that via a browser, go to your Facebook account, find the upside-down triangle at right and click it, then select Settings, then Apps and Websites at left. ","teaser":" Location, location, location. Take charge of whether or not Google, and other apps and services, is tracking your location. Photo by Henry Marsh from Pexels It\u2019s natural to want to limit the ways your smartphone tracks your location. Of course, carrying a device whose main purpose is to connect to","ss_name":"robverger","tos_name":"robverger","ss_name_formatted":"robverger","tos_name_formatted":"robverger","is_uid":1720,"bs_status":true,"bs_sticky":false,"bs_promote":true,"is_tnid":0,"bs_translate":false,"ds_created":"2018-08-14T21:43:20Z","ds_changed":"2018-08-14T21:43:20Z","ds_last_comment_or_change":"2018-08-14T21:43:20Z","bs_field_sponsored":false,"bs_field_display_social":true,"bs_field_custom_page":false,"bs_field_feed_builder_exclusion":false,"bs_field_display_author_bio":true,"bs_field_display_bottom_recirc":true,"bs_use_sir_trevor_body":true,"bs_field_flag_gallery":false,"bs_field_flag_video":false,"bs_field_display_off_ramp":true,"bs_in_nps":false,"bs_use_sir_trevor_custom_page":true,"bs_field_x90_hide":false,"bs_field_last_updated":false,"bs_field_exclude_from_cl":false,"bs_field_exclude_third_parties":false,"ts_bonnier_summary":"
Even if a setting called \u201cLocation History\u201d is switched off in your Google account, that company may still have a record of where you\u2019ve been.<\/div>","ts_bonnier_summary_long":"
Even if a setting called \u201cLocation History\u201d is switched off in your Google account, that company may still have a record of where you\u2019ve been.<\/div>","ts_bonnier_eyebrow":"
Technology<\/a><\/div>","timestamp":"2018-08-14T21:43:21.893Z","bm_field_display_off_ramp":[true],"sm_field_image":["https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/sites\/popsci.com\/files\/styles\/325_4x3\/public\/images\/2018\/08\/apple-buildings-camera-58625.jpg?itok=VLTIQPhV&fc=50,50"],"bm_use_sir_trevor_custom_page":[true],"bm_field_sponsored":[false],"bm_field_flag_gallery":[false],"bm_field_custom_page":[false],"bm_field_flag_video":[false],"bm_field_display_bottom_recirc":[true],"bm_use_sir_trevor_body":[true],"bm_field_x90_hide":[false],"tid":[205955,209823,204974,204188,63,224104],"sm_field_layout_standard":["right-sidebar"],"sm_field_primary_channel":["technology"],"tm_vid_2_names":["Rob Verger"],"tm_vid_1_names":["privacy security Google facebook Technology"],"spell":["What you can do to prevent Google\u2014and others\u2014from tracking your phone"," Location, location, location. Take charge of whether or not Google, and other apps and services, is tracking your location. Photo by Henry Marsh from Pexels It\u2019s natural to want to limit the ways your smartphone tracks your location. Of course, carrying a device whose main purpose is to connect to networks\u2014like through Wi-Fi, GPS, cell towers, and Bluetooth\u2014and at the same time expecting to keep your location private can be tricky. This topic was thrown into sharp relief by a report by the Associated Press that pointed out that even if a setting called \u201cLocation History\u201d is switched off in your Google account, that company may still have a record of where you\u2019ve been physically, thanks to another setting called \u201cWeb & App Activity.\u201d A Google spokesperson confirmed the location issue in an emailed statement: \u201cLocation History is a Google product that is entirely opt in, and users have the controls to edit, delete, or turn it off at any time. As the [AP] story notes, we make sure Location History users know that when they disable the product, we continue to use location to improve the Google experience when they do things like perform a Google search or use Google for driving directions." If you want to minimize the extent to which your phone tracks you, here are some basic actions to help protect your privacy. Step 1: Start with Google settings To work towards shutting down Google\u2019s ability to know where you are, the first step is to sign into your account. It might be easiest to do this on a desktop. In your browser, go to myactivity.google.com, then click on Activity controls, which will be to the left if you\u2019re using Chrome. At the top, you\u2019ll see a box for Web & App Activity. Turn it off (or in Google\u2019s somewhat distressing lingo, \u201cpause\u201d it). If you\u2019re using Safari, you can find Activity controls under the three dots at the top towards the right. When you\u2019re on the Web & App Activity page, look for an option at left that says \u201cDelete activity by\u201d to manage Google\u2019s records on your actions. Next, in the box below Web and App Activity, you\u2019ll see another field called Location History. Switch that off. In that same area, you should see a link to \u201cmanage activity.\u201d Clicking there will take you to what Google calls the Timeline; it has a map view and information about where you\u2019ve been. A gear icon at the bottom right gives you further options, including how to delete your whole location history. Step 2: For Android If you\u2019re an Android smartphone user, you can take additional steps on that mobile device. Under Settings, navigate to Security & Location. Scroll down to the Privacy section, then to Location, and click on it. At the very bottom, click on Google Location History. If you\u2019ve switched that off from your browser during the previous step, it should also be off here. After checking that, go back to the main Location page on your phone by hitting the back arrow at upper left. At the top of the Location page, there\u2019s a toggle to switch off all location services. Turn it off if you want, or leave it on and specifically manage what apps can and cannot use your location by clicking on \u201cApp-level permissions.\u201d Going to that screen allows you to turn off the location access that Google Maps has, for example. If you do this, test it by launching the Map app and try to have it detect your location. You\u2019ll get a prompt that asks \u201cAllow Maps to access this device\u2019s location?\u201d You can also turn off location permission for your camera on that same app-level permission page, meaning that your phone shouldn\u2019t know where you are when you snap a pic and thus won\u2019t include that in the image\u2019s metadata. Apps with access to your photos can piece together a rough idea of your location data by analyzing the geotags on your photos. Step 2: For iPhones Managing what your iPhone knows about your location is a similar process: Go to Settings, Privacy, and then Location Services. From there you can turn it off entirely, or manage what individual apps are allowed to take advantage of location data. You\u2019ll see three options for most apps: \u201cNever,\u201d \u201cWhile Using the App,\u201d or \u201cAlways.\u201d When in doubt, \u201cWhile Using the App\u201d is a safer option than \u201cAlways,\u201d and of course, \u201cNever\u201d shuts things down entirely for that app\u2019s location awareness. If you\u2019re specifically concerned about Google products, look for the apps made by Google on this list: Google Calendar, Home, Maps, and News may be installed. Manage them as you want. You can even control location data in the phone\u2019s default browser via the \u201cSafari Websites\u201d item. Finally, at the very bottom, there\u2019s an option for \u201cSystem Services.\u201d You\u2019ll find a slew of other phone services there that you can decide whether or not you want to allow to know your location, including \u201cSignificant Locations\u201d at the bottom. Clicking through to that will allow you to learn what your phone has in turn learned about where you\u2019ve been, although it notes that \u201cSignificant Locations are encrypted and cannot be read by Apple.\u201d As a general rule, your phone will become less functional as you disable location services: if you want your Google Map app to know where you are when you push the little compass-like icon at bottom right, you\u2019ll need to at least enable location services for it while you\u2019re using the app. What else to keep in mind? \u201cGoogle has too strong of a grip on the Android ecosystem, and by the same token Apple has a very strong grip on the iOS ecosystem,\u201d Sean O\u2019Brien, a member of the Yale Privacy Lab, says. \u201cThey dictate what users can and can\u2019t see in the user interface.\u201d In other words, in this instance with Google, users who had Location History off but Web & App Activity on were likely surprised that their location was still tracked via that second category. \u201cThe chain of trust between the distributor of the software, which is Google in this case, and the end user, is just broken,\u201d O\u2019Brien adds. Still concerned about privacy and security? You can consider deleting apps you don\u2019t use, using an encrypted communications service like Signal, or fighting surveillance by reading up on what the Electronic Frontier Foundation recommends. And O\u2019Brien suggests installing F-Droid on Android phones, and using that instead of the Google Play store to get apps. That\u2019s because he says that F-Droid is \u201caudited by volunteers,\u201d whereas, he adds, \u201cGoogle has proven to be a poor steward of the Play Store.\u201d Finally, consider auditing your privacy settings on key social networks, like Facebook: pay special attention to what apps and websites you\u2019ve integrated into your account, and remove them as you see fit. To do that via a browser, go to your Facebook account, find the upside-down triangle at right and click it, then select Settings, then Apps and Websites at left. ","privacy security Google facebook Technology","Rob Verger","
Even if a setting called \u201cLocation History\u201d is switched off in your Google account, that company may still have a record of where you\u2019ve been.<\/div>","
Even if a setting called \u201cLocation History\u201d is switched off in your Google account, that company may still have a record of where you\u2019ve been.<\/div>","
Technology<\/a><\/div>"],"bm_field_feed_builder_exclusion":[false],"bm_field_exclude_third_parties":[false],"im_field_author":[224104],"bm_field_display_social":[true],"bm_field_exclude_from_cl":[false],"bm_field_last_updated":[false],"sm_field_sponsor_label":[""],"bm_in_nps":[false],"sm_field_subtitle":["Location, location, location.\n"],"bm_field_display_author_bio":[true],"im_field_tags":[205955,209823,204974,204188,63],"im_vid_2":[224104],"sm_vid_Authors":["Rob Verger"],"im_vid_1":[205955,209823,204974,204188,63],"sm_vid_Tags":["privacy","security","Google","facebook","Technology"]},{"id":"phhg4e\/node\/236584","site":"https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/","hash":"phhg4e","entity_id":236584,"entity_type":"node","bundle":"basic_content","bundle_name":"Basic content","ss_language":"und","path":"node\/236584","url":"https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/bridge-collapse-in-italy","path_alias":"bridge-collapse-in-italy","label":"Deadly collapse in Italy turns spotlight onto aging bridges around the world","content":" Nearly 10 percent of U.S. bridges are considered structurally deficient. Rescuers work to search for survivors after a section of the Morandi motorway bridge collapsed earlier on August 14, 2018 in Genoa, Italy. Awakening\/Getty Images Since the 1960s the Morandi bridge in Genoa, Italy arced high over railway tracks, nearby buildings and the Polcevera river, stretching across a span of 3,615 feet (0.68 miles) carrying cars and trucks along a major toll road nearly 150 feet above the ground. On Tuesday, a massive segment (estimated at 262-feet long) of the bridge collapsed suddenly, sending steel, concrete, cars and trucks hurtling to the ground in what Italy\u2019s Transportation Minister called an \u201cimmense tragedy.\u201d that left dozens dead. The bridge collapsed in the middle of a extremely wet and rainy day in Genoa. Some eyewitnesses told news agencies that they had seen lightning hit the bridge before the collapse. The exact cause is still unknown, but the New York Times reported that Deputy Transportation minister Edoardo Rixi said the bridge had shown \u201csigns of problems\u201d in the past. \u201cIt is really sad. I knew that bridge, I passed across that bridge a few times. It was a famous bridge for Italian engineering,\u201d says Matteo Pozzi, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. The bridge, Pozzi explains, was built by Riccardo Morandi, a civil engineer, whose designs in the 1960s were somewhat pioneering as they used reinforced concrete instead of the more expensive steel more commonly used at the time. Pozzi says that over the years people learned more about problems with the concrete of the bridge, and how it could deteriorate over time, \u201cbut it was still a landmark for Genoa.\u201d Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported another engineer had noted serious issues with the bridge in 2016, saying that sooner or later, it would need to be replaced. The paper also noted that a twin of the Genoa bridge, designed by the same engineer, partially collapsed in 1964 after being hit by an oil tanker. Reuters reported that restructuring work had taken place in 2016, and that work shoring up the bridges foundations was underway. In the wake of large collapses like this, many researchers will start working to figure out what went wrong. In the aftermath of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse in 1940, researchers investigated the relationship between wind and bridges, seeking to prevent a disaster like that from happening again. "There's a lot of research that starts after these events," Pozzi says. In the aftermath of the 2007 collapse of a Minnesota highway bridge, researchers figured out the potential danger caused by the deterioration of a particular steel element, leading to more vigorous inspections on other bridges. There is no guarantee that similar analysis will come out of this recent tragedy, but scientists will be looking closely into the cause. Bridges in Italy have not fared well in recent years. The Corriere della Sera reported that not including Tuesday\u2019s incident, 10 bridges have collapsed in Italy in the past five years, a number that the paper attributes to a lack of investment and maintence. But problems with aging bridges are hardly unique to Italy. Here in the United States, 9.1 percent of the country\u2019s 614,387 are considered structurally deficient, according to the American Society of Civil Engineer\u2019s 2017 Infrastructure Report Card, which gave the state of bridges in this country a C+. The ASCE estimates that 188 million trips are made across those structurally deficient bridges every day. Around 40 percent of all bridges in the United States are over 50 years old, putting them in the same age group as the Morandi bridge, which opened in 1967, 51 years ago. Pozzi explains that many aspects of how a bridge behaves over its lifetime are well-known by engineers. \u201cWe understand bridge behavior very well,\u201d he says. \u201cThe problem, in my opinion, is the uncertainty about the condition of material inside the bridge, and under the bridge.\u201d As a bridge ages, the steel bars inside concrete can corrode, and it\u2019s hard to know exactly how well they\u2019ve held up inside that concrete over decades or more\u2014especially because climate and landscape conditions vary dramatically between locations. A bridge in a hot desert climate built across a valley will be subject to different stresses than a bridge in a cold, wet climate built over a river. In addition to visual inspections and external sensors, engineers have made advances in the past decade in non-destructive techniques for analyzing these old bridges, including feeling out the vibrations that pass through the structure, caused by the rumble of traffic or footfalls or wind. \u201dBy analyzing how the bridge vibrates you are able in principle to assess the stiffness of the different parts,\u201d Pozzi says. Things like cracks in concrete, or corrosion in steel can reduce the stiffness, causing vibrations to travel differently through impacted parts of the bridge. The resolution can vary significantly by structure, but techniques like that can at least give engineers a peek into the health of a structure over its lifetime. On newer structures, engineers can build sensors into the bridge, letting the object itself send updates on its different elements as it ages. \u201cWe have this hope that with new technology these sensors are becoming cheaper, and we can distribute more sensors, so that we can map in real time the conditions of these bridges,\u201d Pozzi says. Bridges are an integral part of infrastructure in any country, carrying people and cargo quickly across what would otherwise be treacherous terrain. They span rivers, valleys, and loop over other major roads and impassable areas of cities. Any collapse of a bridge isn\u2019t just dangerous in the short term: it also severs a vein, cutting off the flow of goods and services into an area. \u201cYou can\u2019t recover a bridge fast. When it fails, the time that you need to build a replacement after a sudden failure is huge,\u201d Pozzi says. \u201cWe have to deal with these rare and catastrophic events. As a society, the question is, in some sense, what is the level of investment we want to make to make these bridges safer?\u201d Maintaining these engineering marvels, and preventing tragedies like the one that happened today in Italy, costs money. The ASCE puts the price tag of the current backlog of bridge rehabilitation projects in the United States at $123 billion. The cost of a collapsed bridge can also be staggeringly high. On occasion it can also be measured in a different, more tragic metric. As of this writing, 35 people have been reported as dead in the collapse in Italy, and officials said that the death toll is likely to grow. ","teaser":" Nearly 10 percent of U.S. bridges are considered structurally deficient. Rescuers work to search for survivors after a section of the Morandi motorway bridge collapsed earlier on August 14, 2018 in Genoa, Italy. Awakening\/Getty Images Since the 1960s the Morandi bridge in Genoa, Italy arced high","ss_name":"Mary Beth Griggs","tos_name":"Mary Beth Griggs","ss_name_formatted":"Mary Beth Griggs","tos_name_formatted":"Mary Beth Griggs","is_uid":242,"bs_status":true,"bs_sticky":false,"bs_promote":true,"is_tnid":0,"bs_translate":false,"ds_created":"2018-08-14T20:53:58Z","ds_changed":"2018-08-14T21:17:59Z","ds_last_comment_or_change":"2018-08-14T21:17:59Z","bs_field_sponsored":false,"bs_field_display_social":true,"bs_field_custom_page":false,"bs_field_feed_builder_exclusion":false,"bs_field_display_author_bio":true,"bs_field_display_bottom_recirc":true,"bs_use_sir_trevor_body":true,"bs_field_flag_gallery":false,"bs_field_flag_video":false,"bs_field_display_off_ramp":true,"bs_in_nps":false,"bs_use_sir_trevor_custom_page":true,"bs_field_x90_hide":false,"bs_field_last_updated":false,"bs_field_exclude_from_cl":false,"bs_field_exclude_third_parties":false,"ts_bonnier_summary":"
Since the 1960s the Morandi bridge in Genoa, Italy arced high over railway tracks, nearby buildings and the Polcevera river.<\/div>","ts_bonnier_summary_long":"
Since the 1960s the Morandi bridge in Genoa, Italy arced high over railway tracks, nearby buildings and the Polcevera river.<\/div>","ts_bonnier_eyebrow":"
Science<\/a><\/div>","timestamp":"2018-08-14T21:18:01.861Z","bm_field_display_off_ramp":[true],"sm_field_image":["https:\/\/www.popsci.com\/sites\/popsci.com\/files\/styles\/325_4x3\/public\/images\/2018\/08\/gettyimages-1016663508.jpg?itok=7p5NNAvd&fc=50,50"],"bm_use_sir_trevor_custom_page":[true],"bm_field_sponsored":[false],"bm_field_flag_gallery":[false],"bm_field_custom_page":[false],"bm_field_flag_video":[false],"bm_field_display_bottom_recirc":[true],"bm_use_sir_trevor_body":[true],"bm_field_x90_hide":[false],"tid":[205859,202038,62,212470],"sm_field_layout_standard":["right-sidebar"],"sm_field_primary_channel":["science"],"tm_vid_2_names":["Mary Beth Griggs"],"tm_vid_1_names":["infrastructure bridges Science"],"spell":["Deadly collapse in Italy turns spotlight onto aging bridges around the world"," Nearly 10 percent of U.S. bridges are considered structurally deficient. Rescuers work to search for survivors after a section of the Morandi motorway bridge collapsed earlier on August 14, 2018 in Genoa, Italy. Awakening\/Getty Images Since the 1960s the Morandi bridge in Genoa, Italy arced high over railway tracks, nearby buildings and the Polcevera river, stretching across a span of 3,615 feet (0.68 miles) carrying cars and trucks along a major toll road nearly 150 feet above the ground. On Tuesday, a massive segment (estimated at 262-feet long) of the bridge collapsed suddenly, sending steel, concrete, cars and trucks hurtling to the ground in what Italy\u2019s Transportation Minister called an \u201cimmense tragedy.\u201d that left dozens dead. The bridge collapsed in the middle of a extremely wet and rainy day in Genoa. Some eyewitnesses told news agencies that they had seen lightning hit the bridge before the collapse. The exact cause is still unknown, but the New York Times reported that Deputy Transportation minister Edoardo Rixi said the bridge had shown \u201csigns of problems\u201d in the past. \u201cIt is really sad. I knew that bridge, I passed across that bridge a few times. It was a famous bridge for Italian engineering,\u201d says Matteo Pozzi, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. The bridge, Pozzi explains, was built by Riccardo Morandi, a civil engineer, whose designs in the 1960s were somewhat pioneering as they used reinforced concrete instead of the more expensive steel more commonly used at the time. Pozzi says that over the years people learned more about problems with the concrete of the bridge, and how it could deteriorate over time, \u201cbut it was still a landmark for Genoa.\u201d Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported another engineer had noted serious issues with the bridge in 2016, saying that sooner or later, it would need to be replaced. The paper also noted that a twin of the Genoa bridge, designed by the same engineer, partially collapsed in 1964 after being hit by an oil tanker. Reuters reported that restructuring work had taken place in 2016, and that work shoring up the bridges foundations was underway. In the wake of large collapses like this, many researchers will start working to figure out what went wrong. In the aftermath of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse in 1940, researchers investigated the relationship between wind and bridges, seeking to prevent a disaster like that from happening again. "There's a lot of research that starts after these events," Pozzi says. In the aftermath of the 2007 collapse of a Minnesota highway bridge, researchers figured out the potential danger caused by the deterioration of a particular steel element, leading to more vigorous inspections on other bridges. There is no guarantee that similar analysis will come out of this recent tragedy, but scientists will be looking closely into the cause. Bridges in Italy have not fared well in recent years. The Corriere della Sera reported that not including Tuesday\u2019s incident, 10 bridges have collapsed in Italy in the past five years, a number that the paper attributes to a lack of investment and maintence. But problems with aging bridges are hardly unique to Italy. Here in the United States, 9.1 percent of the country\u2019s 614,387 are considered structurally deficient, according to the American Society of Civil Engineer\u2019s 2017 Infrastructure Report Card, which gave the state of bridges in this country a C+. The ASCE estimates that 188 million trips are made across those structurally deficient bridges every day. Around 40 percent of all bridges in the United States are over 50 years old, putting them in the same age group as the Morandi bridge, which opened in 1967, 51 years ago. Pozzi explains that many aspects of how a bridge behaves over its lifetime are well-known by engineers. \u201cWe understand bridge behavior very well,\u201d he says. \u201cThe problem, in my opinion, is the uncertainty about the condition of material inside the bridge, and under the bridge.\u201d As a bridge ages, the steel bars inside concrete can corrode, and it\u2019s hard to know exactly how well they\u2019ve held up inside that concrete over decades or more\u2014especially because climate and landscape conditions vary dramatically between locations. A bridge in a hot desert climate built across a valley will be subject to different stresses than a bridge in a cold, wet climate built over a river. In addition to visual inspections and external sensors, engineers have made advances in the past decade in non-destructive techniques for analyzing these old bridges, including feeling out the vibrations that pass through the structure, caused by the rumble of traffic or footfalls or wind. \u201dBy analyzing how the bridge vibrates you are able in principle to assess the stiffness of the different parts,\u201d Pozzi says. Things like cracks in concrete, or corrosion in steel can reduce the stiffness, causing vibrations to travel differently through impacted parts of the bridge. The resolution can vary significantly by structure, but techniques like that can at least give engineers a peek into the health of a structure over its lifetime. On newer structures, engineers can build sensors into the bridge, letting the object itself send updates on its different elements as it ages. \u201cWe have this hope that with new technology these sensors are becoming cheaper, and we can distribute more sensors, so that we can map in real time the conditions of these bridges,\u201d Pozzi says. Bridges are an integral part of infrastructure in any country, carrying people and cargo quickly across what would otherwise be treacherous terrain. They span rivers, valleys, and loop over other major roads and impassable areas of cities. Any collapse of a bridge isn\u2019t just dangerous in the short term: it also severs a vein, cutting off the flow of goods and services into an area. \u201cYou can\u2019t recover a bridge fast. When it fails, the time that you need to build a replacement after a sudden failure is huge,\u201d Pozzi says. \u201cWe have to deal with these rare and catastrophic events. As a society, the question is, in some sense, what is the level of investment we want to make to make these bridges safer?\u201d Maintaining these engineering marvels, and preventing tragedies like the one that happened today in Italy, costs money. The ASCE puts the price tag of the current backlog of bridge rehabilitation projects in the United States at $123 billion. The cost of a collapsed bridge can also be staggeringly high. On occasion it can also be measured in a different, more tragic metric. As of this writing, 35 people have been reported as dead in the collapse in Italy, and officials said that the death toll is likely to grow. ","infrastructure bridges Science","Mary Beth Griggs","
Since the 1960s the Morandi bridge in Genoa, Italy arced high over railway tracks, nearby buildings and the Polcevera river.<\/div>","
Since the 1960s the Morandi bridge in Genoa, Italy arced high over railway tracks, nearby buildings and the Polcevera river.<\/div>","
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You have a lot more in common with an orangutan, but scientists can still track how closely you\u2019re related to fruit flies and cucumbers.<\/div>","
You have a lot more in common with an orangutan, but scientists can still track how closely you\u2019re related to fruit flies and cucumbers.<\/div>","
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