Sensor Webs Unwire Ecology 79
jonbrewer writes "Pioneered by CENS, Sensor Networks are rapidly becoming a mainstream environmental monitoring tool. The NY Times has an article today with a quick tech overview and info on RiverNet, EarthScope, NEON, and Neptune. The Times reports 'scientists want to deploy millions of these kinds of devices over large tracts for long periods, opening new windows on nature.'"
yeah, to study nature (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:yeah, to study nature (Score:2)
Remind me to buy shares in Reynolds.
Re:yeah, to study nature (Score:3, Insightful)
With the large number of libertarian and conservative pundits and lobbyists who are claiming that environmentalism is rubbish (Lomborg for instance...), I welcome more hard data to refute them with.
Re:yeah, to study nature (Score:1)
Article text, in case of slashdotting (Score:5, Funny)
By WILLIAM J. BROAD
Published: May 10, 2005
Scientists are turning 30 acres of California forest into a futuristic vision of environmental study.
For free access to this article and more, you must be a registered member of NYTimes.com
Isn't it ironic... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Isn't it ironic... (Score:1)
Re:Isn't it ironic... (Score:1)
Re:Isn't it ironic... (Score:1)
Impact? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Impact? (Score:1, Flamebait)
Re:Impact? (Score:5, Insightful)
But how are we to study these environments (and hopefully learn how not to screw them up anymore than we already have) without some human interaction? We are on this planet. Interaction is going to happen. Maybe these little sensors are less intrusive than other ways of monitoring.
Re:Impact? (Score:1)
The US military has been interested since Vietnam. (Score:5, Interesting)
In Vietnam the US military attempted to install networks of sensors - seismographs, detectors for urine and sweat, detectors for nitrogen compunds (explosives), movement detectors, proximity detectors - along known NLF supply lines and for perimeter defence. They were put in place by Special Forces teams and transmitted their data to overflying aircraft for targetting. Often they were woeful failures or could be spoofed by the NLF.
Here is the new generation, just ready for "assymetric warfare".
Re:The US military has been interested since Vietn (Score:1)
Assy metric? Does a metric ass have 10 cheeks?
Re:The US military has been interested since Vietn (Score:2)
This system was held up as a classic example of government waste: multibillion dollar system defeated by buckets of piss.
Challenges facing researchers (Score:5, Interesting)
Having participtated in small scale ecology studies, I would guess that these senors will raise many more questions (which would be a good definition of the "new windows") than answers. Population ecology and the evolutionary biology that ties into it is a field with many more 'big' questions than most people realize.
In most of the primary literature I cover, for every possible cause of a behavior (such as migratory routes) that is eliminated, another 2 consistently appear (seriously). I think we will see some very interesting questions, rather than any definite answers (at least in the short term). I would definitely like to see this used with the arctic tern [enchantedlearning.com].
Re:Challenges facing researchers (Score:2, Informative)
the difficult thing is when real world applications have a siginificant effect on results
Peeping Sam. (Score:5, Funny)
Well there goes any forays into the woods with your girlfriend.
Re:Peeping Sam. (Score:2, Funny)
No no, by all means, keep doing it...
Re:Peeping Sam. (Score:2)
Re:Peeping Sam. (Score:1)
Well there goes any forays into the woods with your girlfriend.
and the poision ivy the first time wasn't enough of a deturrent?
I wonder how much the "cool" factor influences... (Score:2)
Re:I wonder how much the "cool" factor influences. (Score:1)
Re:I wonder how much the "cool" factor influences. (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:I wonder how much the "cool" factor influences. (Score:2)
Re:I wonder how much the "cool" factor influences. (Score:2)
Supposedly not, but:
Report: Paleontologist "fudged" discovery to promote movie [bozemandai...onicle.com]
Museum of the Rockies paleontologist Jack Horner "fudged" information about a dinosaur discovery four years ago to promote the third "Jurassic Park" film, National Public Radio reported Wednesday.
Horner disputes altering dinosaur discovery for movie opening [billingsgazette.com]
BOZEMAN -- Paleontologist Jack Horner,
If we watch everything... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:If we watch everything... (Score:1)
Re:If we watch everything... (Score:2)
-shpoffo
Re:If we watch everything... (Score:2)
If you're studying something electron sized in a 5nm transistor, yeah, at any given time you can either know that it's on this side of the gate but maybe it has enough energy to go through anyway, or that it doesn't have enough energy, but it may already be on the other side.
If you're, however, studying something the size of an ant, then it becomes utterly irrelevant. If the expected uncertainty is something like 0.0000
Re:If we watch everything... (Score:1)
Just let the man find his cat already.
Smart Dust (Score:4, Informative)
Essentially, it discusses Kris Pister who developed Smart Dust - a wireless network of sensors, called motes. Each mote has a chip about the size of a grain of rice that detects and records things like termperature and motion at its location. The motes have minisule radio transmitters that talk to otehr motes. With a single network of 10,000 motes, the upper limit, you could cover some 9 sq. miles - and get information about each point along the way!
Anyway, here's a brief description:
innovationwatch.com [innovationwatch.com]
Here is the Dust, Inc. homepage:
http://www.dust-inc.com/ [dust-inc.com]
Frightening technology in many respects, but I can't help but smile at the thought of the brilliance behind it all.
The New Shamans of Sensor Networks (Score:1)
Re:Smart Dust (Score:2)
Sensor Network work (Score:4, Informative)
Most of the hardware runs in a specific OS called TinyOS [tinyos.net], which is open source. Other hardware, like the Stargates (also from Crossbow) run an arm version of debian.
You can find lots of neat info about Sensor Networks from the specialized conferences like Sensys, IPSN, etc.
Most of the projects done with Sensor Networks have been geared towards the biological monitoring fields. However, the funding comes in from NSF as well as DARPA so sometimes it is security/military based.
It's an interesting world out there...
cl
Re:Sensor Network work (Score:3, Interesting)
Essentially, the motes are simply what is necess
Re:Sensor Network work (Score:1)
Re:Sensor Network work (Score:1)
Re:Sensor Network work (Score:1)
Re:Sensor Network work (Score:1)
I knew it wasn't science fiction!
Re:Sensor Network work (Score:3, Informative)
You should take a look
Sensor nets (Score:4, Informative)
In one biological study in Maine (Great Duck Island) it seems that the birds on the island they were monitoring had been attacking the sensor motes. In another case these devices offered the first look ever at night time migration patterns of zebras.(aka ZebraNet)
As far as military applications go the one that I am most aware of is DARPA's sniper net. It's a system of audio sensors designed to locate and pinpoint snipers based on gunshot triangulation.
There are some earthquake structural monitoring systems being built in California as well.
However things to be cautioned about. The smaller motes do not have very much in the way of processing power(ie can't even do floating point) so there's no need to get really paranoid about secret cameras. Most of the motes with cameras are big enough you'd probably notice them if you were looking. Primarily the motes are equipped with various sensor banks for things such as Light, Temp, Vibration, Audio, etc etc. Also if you're interested in working with the software for these things the primary OS people use is TinyOS [tinyos.org]. However a word of caution, if you want to muck around inside the inner workings of TinyOS you're pretty much on your own and some of the things are already legacy. The coolest part of sensor nets, in my opinion,is the ability to do in network data processing as the data is funneled through the network. Oh and there's already a Database system designed for use in these systems. It's name is TinyDB [berkeley.edu](surprising naming scheme I know)
Cheers
Re:Sensor nets (Score:3, Interesting)
closing (Score:4, Insightful)
Which ofcourse will be closed with a simple click on the right top corner by politicians who think that the short term economy is much more important.
Not thinking about how much it will cost (in terms of money and health) in the long run to undo (if still possible) the stupid decisions made now.
Sensor networks are great (Score:2, Funny)
Niven (Score:3, Interesting)