In recent years, with a method called VLBI that uses quasar observations, and by GPS we have begun to understand the absolute movement of tectonic plates.
There are certainly inequalities in level of education even within a single generation, but there have been no visible inequities between machines and materials in recent years.
The clear and refreshing sound of the wind chimes is one of the characteristics of summers in Japan, but in recent years the number of people who perceive it merely as noise has been increasing.