Academic

PREDICTING EARTHQUAKES WITH a network of iPhones? ?Each smartphone has an accelerometer built int?

By Glenn Reynolds

PREDICTING EARTHQUAKES WITH a network of iPhones?

“Each smartphone has an accelerometer built into it,” says Robert W. Clayton, a professor of geology at Caltech. “It’s primary function is to determine the orientation of the phone and to allow gaming. But it can also be used to detect seismic activity.” What’s more, the phone’s internet connection allows it instant access to remote servers. In essence, though consumers think of them that way, iPhones have the capability to serve as nodes in a distributed seismic sensor network. All they need is someone to organize that network. Clayton is part of a team aiming to do just that. Called Community Seismic Network, the project will debut this summer with a tight cluster of sensors in the Pasadena area.

That’s kinda cool. Sounds like something out of Vernor Vinge’s Rainbows End, but then, that’s now only 15 years away. . . . (You can hear us interview Vinge about the book and the future here.)

Full post as published by Instapundit.com on April 10, 2010 (boomark / email).