Intelligent Satellite Notices Volcanic Activity 116
Dik Zak points us to this NASA page about a new generation of intelligent Earth observation satellites. From the article: "The Indonesian volcano Talang on the island of Sumatra had been dormant for centuries when, in April 2005, it suddenly rumbled to life. A plume of smoke rose 1000 meters high and nearby villages were covered in ash. Fearing a major eruption, local authorities began evacuating 40,000 people. UN officials, meanwhile, issued a call for help: Volcanologists should begin monitoring Talang at once. Little did they know that, high above Earth, a small satellite was already watching the volcano. No one had told it to. EO-1 (short for "Earth Observing 1") noticed the warning signs and started monitoring Talang on its own. Indeed, by the time many volcanologists were reading their emails from the UN, 'EO-1 already had data,' says Steve Chien, leader of JPL's Artificial Intelligence Group."
Re:...but did it tell anyone? (Score:3, Interesting)
(posting anonymously because I modded parent up)
Re:...but did it tell anyone? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Disturbing (Score:1, Interesting)
In the original series, Captain Kirk is talking to some overlord guy about his wife that has been placed under suspended animation in a display case of some sort. Not as appropriate.
Clearly the parent was referencing TNG.
Re:Inefficient use of funds (Score:3, Interesting)
Research is an essential aspect of progress. However, all because research is essential does not mean ALL research is essential, or that any given research is an efficient use of the finite resources available with which to conduct research.
More to the point, research is not the issue here, despite the fact you're raised it as THE issue. There are a zillion ways to develop AI heuristics. There is no need whatsoever to spend millions of dollars developing them in a spacecraft when you can spend thousands of dollars and develop them in a computer, with attached sensors, in a lab.
The issue here is that there is a finite amount of money and this seems to be a rather gratitious and extremely expensive satellite.
> How can you say that it wouldn't be great for them to have a network of satellites that watch the globe
> for this activity tirelessly day and night, rather than having some poor tired geologists staring at
> seismometeres ?
I doubt there is a single geologist, tired or otherwise, staring at seisometers, waiting for something to happen. I suspect they are all computer monitored and the geologists, being rather bright, have so arranged matters that they are warm and comfy in bed.
> I'm sure you're against educating people in the third world because other people are starving etc.
You think that because you don't understand where I'm coming from and have projected a set of opinions you dislike on to me.
Re:Inefficient use of funds (Score:3, Interesting)
> mission is that out of line.
There are MANY satellites which monitor the entire planet, 24/7.
My point is that the report seems to be that this satellite is being used to experiment with AI heuristics.
It's all good and well to do research, but it's not all good and well to do needlessly expensive research. Firing a satellite into orbit and running it is VERY expensive. The more you spend doing this, the less you have to spend on other research, which now simply doesn't get done. (And that's if you spend it on research; what about the 2.9 billion people who live on less than $2 a day?)
More to the point, it's actually an example of an abuse of economic freedom. I pay taxes - a whacking great big chunk of my income is taken from me. Why do I pay so much? what's the money used for? turns out some of it is being used to fire what seems to be entirely excessive hardware into space. I'm not happy with having so much money taken from me for things like this! but what choice do I have? none at all. My economic freedom - my ability to own what I earn from my own work - is compromised, for the State comes along and dispossesses me of a whacking great big chunk of my work; and it seems some of that money is being very inefficiently used. The people spending my money aren't the person who had to do the work to earn that money.