Rome, Landings and Traces to Read

Good morning. This is Positive Times for the fifth of November, twenty twenty-six. Today we move from Rome’s Capitoline Museums to a drone testing its landing skills, then explore city services and a landscape in Dorset. We finish with a candle that helps reveal something we usually overlook: the movement of the air around us.

At the Capitoline Museums, one Roman inscription has three lives

We begin in Rome. Since the fourth of November, the Capitoline Museums have displayed a bronze dedication from the Vigiles to the Severan emperors beside two three-dimensional resin prints. Developed with the University of Verona, the display runs until the thirty-first of March, twenty twenty-seven. The copies show different stages in the object’s history: one reconstructs its arrangement in the year two hundred and three AD; the other follows a drawing published in sixteen fifty. The museum says some missing busts were recreated using artificial intelligence. These are reconstructions, not newly discovered artefacts. The useful distinction is visible: technology can help explain history while clearly identifying where ancient evidence ends.

• Musei Capitolini · Dedica dei Vigili ai Severi. Dalla riscoperta al restauro virtuale

A drone tests how to choose a landing spot, with the Moon in mind

From history to future landings. In an update published on the fourth of November, NASA describes a test conducted on the twenty-seventh of August in California. A drone carrying the navigation system called Splice completed manoeuvres simulating a lunar descent. The system uses sensors to build digital maps of the terrain and assess where to land. If the selected area looks hazardous, it can direct the drone somewhere else. Keep the distinction clear: the test happened on Earth, not on the Moon. It is a step towards possible future missions, with further checks still required. Our editorial observation is simple: arriving safely sometimes begins with rejecting the first place you chose.

• NASA · NASA Navigation Experiment Shows Promise for Planetary Landings

AI at city hall, with people still responsible

Cities also need to make choices, especially when using artificial intelligence. On the fourth of November, the International Telecommunication Union and UN Habitat presented guidance for urban services. It is aimed at mayors and administrators, helping them decide where to use artificial intelligence, what safeguards are needed and when to avoid it. Responsibility remains with people. Málaga, Dubai and Baghdad are named as the first pilot cities, with implementation of the guidance planned for twenty twenty-seven. For now, there is a shared reference to work from. That is not yet evidence that city services have improved. Guidance is a beginning; the results will still need to be measured.

• ITU · United for Smart Sustainable Cities marks 10 years with guidance for using artificial intelligence in city services
• U4SSC · Working Group 8 on Guiding Principles and Frameworks for People-Centred Smart Cities in the AI Era

A stone stands again in Dorset, bringing a story back into view

In Dorset, England, an element of an ancient landscape is visible again. On the fourth of November, Natural England announced that the Bride Stone had been raised in the Valley of Stones nature reserve. The work involved community archaeology and local volunteers. Excavation suggests it formed part of a Stone Age tomb: that is an archaeological interpretation, not certainty about every detail of the monument. The upright stone now provides a landmark for visitors. The completed intervention is the concrete result. Reconstructing its full history remains a question for further study, guided by the evidence available.

• Natural England · Lost stone rises up in Dorset’s Valley of Stones Nature Reserve

Why does a candle flame have a pointed tip?

We finish with a small discovery: why does a candle flame have a pointed tip? On Earth, heated air becomes less dense and rises; cooler air moves in to replace it. That circulation helps create the elongated shape. In microgravity experiments described by NASA, flames in a quiet environment could become rounded and blue. This does not mean every fire in space is identical, or that a candle can burn in a vacuum. These are controlled experiments, useful for astronaut safety too. We can compare the images without lighting anything: a familiar shape reveals the environment around it. And remember, a blue flame is not harmless.

• NASA · Candle Flame — 1g vs Microgravity
• NASA Science · Why NASA is studying flames in space
• H. D. Ross, D. L. Dietrich, J. S. Tien · NASA NTRS · Candle Flames in Microgravity: USML-1 Results — 1 Year Later

You can find the complete readings and their sources in today’s Positive Times edition. Thank you for joining us. Let’s keep distinguishing what we know, what we are testing and what remains to be understood. See you tomorrow.