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How your phone finds the quickest route: Dijkstra's shortest-path algorithm Your phone finds the fastest route across millions of roads without trying them all. The trick is a rule Edsger Dijkstra devised in 1956: always finish the… Computing3 min read How a clock found longitude at sea: Harrison's H4 and the £20,000 prize In 1707 a British fleet hit the rocks off Scilly because navigators could not find longitude. Seven years later Parliament offered £20,000 for a method… History4 min read How honeybees give directions by dancing in the dark A honeybee that finds good flowers can tell her sisters where they are, inside a pitch-black hive, by dancing. She runs in a straight line while shaking her… Biology5 min read How sailors found longitude before satellites: a race against the clock Latitude is easy: measure the height of the Sun or the Pole Star. Longitude is hard, because the Earth turns one degree every four minutes. To know how far… History6 min read