August 11, 2005
Saving the World With Cell Phones
As cell phones evolve to include souped-up games, streaming video and MP3 players, some University of California at Berkeley professors and graduate students want to slip a pollution detector into the mix. Wired reports.
"They are working to develop cheap wireless sensors that, once fitted inside cell phones, could sniff out anything from biological weapons to traffic patterns. W
hile the sensors might not be a typical cell-phone add-on, those involved in the research claim the sheer number of mobile phones in use could make such a system a boon for worldwide data collection and problem solving."
... Right now, a phone is being put together with a carbon-monoxide sensor that R.J. Honicky, a computer science Ph.D. student, will begin testing in September. This type of sensor is being used first because they are easy to find, inexpensive and reliable, Newton said. Because carbon monoxide can be lethal in high doses, monitoring for its presence could immediately help save lives".
Related:
-- 2003: Cell Phones - For so much more than just talking ... And down the road, research is working on cell phones which can warn of gas leaks (thanks to sensors that verify changes in the atmosphere) and cell phones that will be able to warn about the presence of bacteria and viruses (thanks to bio-sensors) or detect dirty bombs (thanks to detectors that can upload information to a central database).
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