John Dennen is ringside at the Manchester Arena for Anthony Crolla vs. Jorge Linares
IT’S time for Anthony Crolla vs. Jorge Linares. Manchester hero Crolla’s reign as a world champion has been incredible. He nearly missed his shot at the WBA crown when warding off burglars from his neighbor’s house; he was gravely injured. He came back and won his world belt as an underdog from Darleys Perez and then halted Ismael Barroso in spectacular style. But tonight at the Manchester Arena is his toughest test. Jorge Linares is brilliant, experience, and a large lightweight. The two will be vying to be recognized as the best 135lbs fighter on the planet.
For example, Chicago O’Hare International Airport’s newest tower—which boasts an elegant, energy-efficient design—cost taxpayers $45 million. In June, Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina broke ground on a $60 million tower. San Francisco has spent $70 million on a tower expected to be operational in October. The City by the Bay also forked out another $50 million to demolish its old tower.
But these gleaming structures could soon be obsolete thanks to new technology that allows airports to monitor and manage air traffic using a system of cameras and sensors that record flight information, then transmit it to windowless buildings miles away from the runways. These so-called ” remote towers” allow airplanes to be controlled from cheap conference rooms rather than expensive control towers. Monitors in these remote control rooms can display every facet of an airport’s operation, replicating the experience of being in a tower and looking out the window. The system is seen as a surefire way of cutting costs.
At least that is what countries including Ireland, Germany, and Sweden, who have invested in the technology, are hoping for. Sweden opened the world’s first remote tower facility in April 2015 to guide aircraft at Örnsköldsvik Airport 123 kilometers away. A system of high-resolution cameras, microphones, signal lights, and meteorological sensors at the Örnsköldsvik airstrip sends data to the remote tower, staffed by traffic controllers.
