Mobile Phones for Geese and Seals 93
prostoalex writes: "BBC News has two related articles about mobile phones and messaging being introduced to the animal world. The stories, aptly named Geese 'phone' home and Seals 'phone' home (kudos from this-title-is-so-original dept.) talk about 'tagged' animals that report about their location via the cellular systems. And if seal tracking is available only to the scientists in the field, following the geese online is open to anyone who contributes .75 British pounds to the research project."
Quack (Score:1)
Quack Carrot Top Quack?
QUAAAAACK
Re:Quack (Score:1)
Re:link b0rk3d - dammit! (Score:1)
---snip
50 PRINT "Login:"
---snip
it should read:
50 PRINT "Login:";
other than this minor cosmetic problem, your fine authentication routine is quite impressive!
You think the technology is impressive.... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:You think the technology is impressive.... (Score:1)
Forty-two? That should be easy compared to recharging the mobile phone in the middle of the Atlantic.
Re:You think the technology is impressive.... (Score:3, Insightful)
At least a goose's beak becomes narrow enough to tap one button on the phone at a time. Think of the seals! How is a seal going to dial?!
Hmm. Voice dial?
Whee paranoia! (Score:1)
Re:Whee paranoia! (Score:1)
Almost already being done. Check out this family [go.com] that decided to have chip implants put into everyone. Sure, it may only contain certain medical data and whatnot currently, but how much would you be betting to wager that when one of the kids becomes lost, the designers don't inform the parents of the "hidden tracking feature"?
We have everyone means to do the exact same thing with humans as we are doing with animals, and with quite an amount of ease. The only barrier is on the enforcement end of things, trying to get people to take the implants (if they haven't gassed us all and given us them anyhow, lol) and keep them without hassle (i.e. tearing at your own skin
Geese status (Score:1)
An Explanation Finally (Score:1)
It all makes sense now! (Score:1)
Brillant! However, I am concerned that they chose whales and geese.....maybe they're easy to sucker into long contracts!
What about the penguins! (Score:4, Funny)
I'll contribute 50 pounds if they include penguins in the program. Think of the publicity we'd get with a wired mascot! Oh, how about another 100 if they include a gnu.
Status of gnu (Score:1)
11:35am : Gnu position remains unchanged
1:22 pm : Gnu position remains unchanged
4:25 pm : Gnu is defecating
4:26 pm : A non-identified human has entered wildlife preserve
4:26 pm : Human seems to be calling gnu
4:27 pm : Gnu approaching human in Region 4 of wildlife preserve
4:27 pm : Gnu acting oddly
5:12 pm : Police entering wildlife preserve
5:14 pm : Man being arrested. Man protesting loudly
5:27 pm : Police identify man as Richard M. Stallman
5:30 pm : Police charge man with illegal entry and 3 counts of animal cruelty
5:30 pm : Gnu returns to Region 3 of wildlife preserve
8:29 pm : Gnu is sleeping. Position unchanged
phone bills (Score:2, Funny)
A seal in the Baltic anyone can monitor (Score:1)
Not much in English though, but here [ilrecycling.com] is the web page with a little in English.
The transmitters on the other two seals have broken, but you can see the old tracks for them.
Hunting goes techno (Score:2, Funny)
Can you shoot me now? Good! (Score:1)
Re:Hunting goes techno (Score:2)
Have to ask... (Score:1)
Re:Have to ask... (Score:1)
Verizon's New Ad (Score:1)
Re:Verizon's New Ad (Score:1)
WWT website (Score:2, Interesting)
All the birds take the same route from Iceland to Greenland, even though they took the journey at different times. On the 4th of June Arnthor was well ahead of the pack (okay okay so it's not a race but), but by the 10th of June, it was clear he/she had decided to have a few days break on the edge of Greenland while Hugh and Kerry had a few days break. Also intresting is that these two birds both arrived on the same island, and it looks like they arrived at the same time, but at opposite ends of the island.
This could be a new sport, taking bets on which bird gets to Canada first - with daily web updates. More exciting than the football.
Re:WWT website (Score:1)
Shouldn't that be webbed updated?
Geese poop 3 pounds a day (Score:2, Funny)
Pounds of what?
Addendum (Score:1)
We (canajens eh!) hate geeses to peeces (Score:2, Funny)
DateLine: circa 1942, the northern most tip of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. At a top secret location a specially trained cadre of experts carefully sweep the NorthWest Pacific skies for signs of the awaited Japanese invasion. Their cutting edge technology: RADAR. Early one morning the first wave of Zeros shows on the RADAR screen and the word is sent out: the invasion has begun... well almost... that was until the first wave of Zeros showed itself to be a flock of Canadian Geese. Now we can just call their service and check their flight plans.
A log cabin remains, with a plaque commemorating the brave souls who spent the war, huddled over bleeding edge technology muttering... airplane?...goose?Does this have anything to do ... (Score:5, Funny)
Network Interconnectivity (Score:1)
CritterCam is pretty neat... (Score:2, Offtopic)
Some guy at National Geographic [nationalgeographic.com] has been attaching camcorders he calls CritterCams [usgs.gov] to the backs of sea turtles, sharks, and other shit that swims around in hard to reach places (no comment).
peace***
This sounds like a hunters dream (Score:2, Funny)
Re:This sounds like a hunters dream (Score:1)
alt.cell.geese.bang.bang.bang (Score:1)
alt.cell.seal.club.club.club (Score:1)
What about poachers "hacking" the system? (Score:2, Insightful)
Imagine if the poachers could simply trigger the SMS system and then triangulate on the position of the largest closest herd of seals.
Re:What about poachers "hacking" the system? (Score:1)
Re:What about poachers "hacking" the system? (Score:1)
Re:What about poachers "hacking" the system? (Score:1)
Re:What about poachers "hacking" the system? (Score:1)
£75 a year (Score:2)
The sponsorship, which costs £75 a year, is the latest conservation scheme tied to mobile phones.
Thats 75 pounds not .75 (as in 75 pence) as the /. story states. Not sure if i'm willing to put up quite that much. maybe a fiver....
Re:£75 a year (Score:1)
privacy concerns (Score:1)
--
"First they came for the geese and seals, but I was not a goose or seal, so I said nothing."
Mobile Phones 'Fuel Gorilla's Plight' (Score:1)
I guess we really need to keep track of those geese and seals, though!
More tech details (Score:1)
(And we find 56kB/sec slow....)
Only the seals are using mobile phone tech (Score:3, Interesting)
However, the Geese are actually using a satellite tracking system (as described in not much detail here) [wwt.org.uk]. The text message bit is just an advertising thing that the WWT will send you an SMS when they get data - which is nothing new technically.
I'd be interested in the battery requirements for both of them though - I've got this image in my head of a seal trying to wind up a charger [slashdot.org]
Animal commercials are the future... (Score:1)
"Quack."
"Goooood."
Repeat until desired effect achieved.
...this shows the big gap between US and Europe. (Score:1, Offtopic)
So for us, the mobile messaging is not a buzzword anymore. It is the default. And in addition to this wireless notification aspect, this was an article, that I would have thought to see on WWF's site and not Slashdot
Re:...this shows the big gap between US and Europe (Score:2)
Re:animal cruelty? (Score:1)
Re:animal cruelty? (Score:1)
I keep mine mainly for the occasional outgoing call, not because I want family and friends to reach me wherever I might be a the moment.
Besides...who's going to be calling the seal? Scientists have been tracking animals using different methods for years, and this is just another method. It's not like they're going to call and interrupt the seals while they're spawning or something...
--RJ
My cellphone doesn't work in the front room... (Score:1)
Can you hear me now?
Goooood!
We can track a goose (Score:1)
A Merging Of Technologies (Score:1)
Mobile phones are killing gorillas (and people) (Score:1)
Just a reminder I guess that new technology often impacts on the environment in unexpected ways, especially when novel components are used. What's more worrying is that your mobile phone may have helped fund warlords in Africa to continue a bitter civil war. The technology doesn't seem quite so cool now, does it?
Getting the tag numbers off live Canadian Geese (Score:2)
APRS anyone? (Score:1)
wouldn't need to be on any cellular network to send the data. (tho, if you weren't in a populated area with any APRS internet gateways, you'd need to do some more complicated math to figure out if a sat was overhead to send through).
Are these tags status symbols? (Score:2)
Is it a "Ha ha...you got your ass tagged" or a "wow...that's so cool that you were selected" kinda mentality.
Phoning home (Score:1)
Greenpeace's phones are gonna start going crazy... (Score:1)
Non-stop, twenty-four hours a day, baby seals calling in yelling and screaming:
Help! Help! There's a man coming toward me, he's got a club in his hand. Help! My co-ordinates are--humpph.
grrr... (Score:1)
I get cutoff from bandwdith problems already, now I've gotta compete seals and geese?
What's next, the seals and geese working tech support?
ring, ring, ring... uh yes hi, I have a problem with my cellphone bill...
quack?
No, I don't wanna hold!!!
*music plays*
Those damn geese always putting me on hold!!!
Forget the GPS treasure hunts... (Score:1)
Loading the gun...