Scientists seek volunteers to monitor for quakes
September 25th, 2008 in Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Seismology graduate student Julian Lozos of the University of California, Riverside, monitors earthquakes by constantly running a background program on an Apple MacBook laptop with a built-in motion sensor, sitting atop a Javanese Gamelan music instrument at his home in Riverside, Calif., Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2008. Since installing the program in February, Lozos was among those whose laptop sent back good data. The Quake-Catcher project relies on an internal motion sensor in computers known as an accelerometer, designed to protect a computer's hard drive if it's dropped, but scientists are turning it into a quake detector. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
(AP) -- Earthquake scientists want to borrow your laptop or maybe a little space in your basement or garage. Researchers don't have enough high-tech monitoring stations to track every instance of ground shaking, so they are enlisting help from ordinary people to document quakes and pinpoint areas of possible damage.
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