Wireless Sensors Monitor Glacier Behavior

Roland Piquepaille writes "In a world premiere, an interdisciplinary team of the University of Southampton, GlacsWeb, has deployed a network of wireless sensors inside a Norwegian glacier to record its behavior. This news release, "Sensor Technology Comes in from the Cold" says that the sensor probes, housed in 'electronic pebbles,' are buried 60 meters under the surface of the glacier. And they transmit wirelessly their observations about temperature, pressure or ice movement to a base station located on the surface, which relays the readings to a server in the UK by mobile phone. The researchers think that similar sensor webs will soon be deployed around the world to watch what is changing in our environment. You'll find more details and pictures in this overview."

Heh.

[Fjornir]

This is great. Now I don't need to worry about being run over by a speeding glacier next time the ice age comes around.

New annoying cellphone calls

[panurge]

Yeah, I'm in the glacier. Looks like we're sliding about three centimetres a year. I guess I might be late for the meeting...sorry, you're breaking up. That's better. Look, if I give you the readings could you turn them into a quick Powerpoint?

Re:New annoying cellphone calls

[B3ryllium]

*ahem*

*brr*

Can you hear me now? Good.

Don't believe what you read!!!

[nev4]

It's all BS it's part of an extension to the Patriot Act that allows them to wiretap eskimos. They don't care about the glacier's, they are trying to spy on eskimoan extremists.

Re:Mars

[Technonotice_Dom]

I have a hard enough time getting mobile phone coverage where I am anyway, let alone Mars...

Actually I'm glad ...

[SuperDuG]

... Seeing as the icebergs could fall into the ocean, and then drift out to warmer sea, and then cause the ocean to desalinate.

Thus then affecting the ocean current and temperatures of said currents. Then cause the climate to abruptly change.

Then when you think it couldnt get any worse, super storms would emerge and cause hurricanes to form over land. The hurricanes would have such a strong force that they'd (bear with me here) ...

That they'd cause the STRATOSPHERE to come to the surface of the earth. Causing instantaneous freezign of everything in the eye of said land based hurricanes.

As if that wasn't bad enough I predict this would cause 3/4 of the north america, europe and asia's populations to be killed. Thus causing the rest of the populations to move to mexico.

But alas, this can all be prevented if we stop burning fossil fuels, hug a tree, and act like RMS.

Also note, in the event a land based hurricane does bring the STRATOSPHERE down to the earths surface immediately find the nearest library or wendy's and stay there. If you have a tent, be sure to set the tent up in the kitchen of wendy's.

You know what, this whole plot seems like the story for a HORRIBLE movie, I better write it down and call 20th century fox.

Political Monitor

[greyhoundofdeath]

Great now they have a tool to measure progress in Congress.

Re:Don't believe what you read!!!

[autiger]

But of course. It's a well-known fact that the glacier is just a weapon of the Iceberg Liberation Front (ILF) used to target capitalist shipping fleets.

Re:Don't believe what you read!!!

[stratjakt]

I was waiting for a stupid comment about the glaciers' "constitutional right to privacy".

Yours will do, though.

If Global Warming Gets to be Too Bad...

[fcolari]

...can the sensors float?

That's a good joke ... what about a poem?

[CemeteryWall]

One performance only

We'll fly you over burning forests
We'll walk you through the starving hoardes
We'll show you drowned and bloated corpses
At a price you CAN afford

You'll glide above the sky in comfort
You'll sleep your nights in quiet hotels
You'll sit and watch our views in comfort
Of mankind in a thousand hells

Arma G Heddon

Alternatively we could really try to understand the science. It's a bit of a bore.
But we could start with the BBC [bbc.co.uk].

"progress in Congress"...

[Anonymous Coward]

If "pro" is the opposite of "con"....

Re:Heh.

[Dr Caleb]

Now I don't need to worry about being run over by a speeding glacier next time the ice age comes around.

Let me guess, you're one of the guys writing Duke Nukem Forever . . .

Mobile phone connection?

[markh1967]

How is it that they can get a mobile phone signal from ontop a glacier yet I can't get a signal from my house?