About Citizizen Science

This blog is a summary of various news items and pointers on how scientific research is being transformed by new web 2.0 tools, web services and Service Oriented Architectures (SOA). Not only will this transform science through the development of cyber-infrastructure and eSceince but it will enable greater participation by students and the general public in the scientific process in the analysis of data and control of instruments

Friday, July 11, 2008

Distributed Computing for Eartquake Monitoring

[Here are too cool distributed computing applications (similar in operation
to SETI@Home.




http://www.dailytech.com/Distributing+Computing+Project+For+Earthquake+Monit
oring+Coming+Soon/article11276.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_/) ~~

Science
Distributing Computing Project For Earthquake Monitoring Coming Soon Levi Beckerson (Blog) - April 3, 2008 9:23 AM

UC Riverside researcher's earthquake monitoring system via distributed computing will soon be a reality.

Many computer enthusiasts as well as casual users are familiar with the various distributed computing projects such as Folding@home and SETI@home. And if there weren't enough familiarity for PC users, Sony's PlayStation 3 can also run Folding@home and does so very well thanks to its Cell Broadband Engine.
[..]
The magic behind distributed computing is in using all those unused processing cycles where computers lie semi-inert, simply passing time by spinning cooling fans. The various clients utilize unused cycles by crunching numbers for a given project.
[..]

The Quake-Catcher Network will use spare processing power as well as already installed accelerometers in laptops to monitor for seismic activity.

The accelerometers in modern laptops are used to help protect hard disk drives from suffering mechanical failure due to sudden impacts. As they are designed to measure vibration, they are a perfect fit for the Quake-Catcher Network's monitoring system.

Unlike the underground seismic sensors that dot southern California, which,after the data is transferred to one of several universities, takes 15 to 20 seconds to analyze, the network's seismic monitoring would happen in
real-time thanks to the way distributed networking works. The monitoring network could be used as an early warning system to give people in neighboring towns 10 to 15 seconds to prepare for the shock waves.

The data gathered by a dense network of monitoring stations could also be used to map the seismic data from the event, giving scientists a time line as well as information about material density and distance. The gathered
results will be freely available to the public and researchers.
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1 comment:

Unknown said...

An effective geophysical company would definitely do better in transmitting data on seismic activities. Sometimes seismic companies find strong movements even beneath the surface which could trigger rockfalls. Awareness is key.