July 09, 2007 by Marco Zennaro | No comments
TurtleNet, Turtles Have Wireless
Now even the turtle is addicted to wireless technologies. Using a solar-powered GPS and WiFi, University of Massachusetts researchers have created TurtleNet: the world’s first all-turtle network.
Used to track movement patterns of endangered snapping turtles, TurtleNet relies upon periodic turtle-to-turtle WiFi relays as turtles pass other turtles. Then, when one of these turtles comes close to the UM base station, all turtle data is uploaded and sent to the lab 15 miles away. We just think it’s sick that researchers have burdened an endangered species just for some free WiFi in the middle of the swamp. It’s not even hooked to the internet, stupids!
