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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Ground Control"
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GETTING THE DIRT ON, WELL, THE DIRT... THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. IOWA STATE RESEARCHERS ARE WORKING ON A HIGH-TECH UNDERGROUND--LITERALLY, UNDER GROUND. BENEATH SPRAWLING FARM-FIELDS, THEY'RE GETTING THEIR HANDS DIRTY, BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE THAT THERE COULD BE A MORE-EFFICIENT WAY FOR FARMERS TO MONITOR SOIL CONDITIONS. THE IDEA IS A NETWORK OF WIRELESS SOIL-SENSORS--DEVICES BURIED THROUGHOUT THE FIELD--THAT COULD GIVE GROWERS CONSTANT FEEDBACK ON SOIL MOISTURE, AND OTHER FACTORS. THE PROTOTYPE SENSOR--WHICH IS ABOUT THE SIZE OF A BUSINESS-CARD--HAS NO ANTENNA OR WIRES; AN ARRAY OF THEM WOULD BE PLANTED DEEP ENOUGH IN THE GROUND THAT FARMERS SHOULD BE ABLE TO PLOW, SOW, REAP, TILL, AND DO WHAT FARMERS DO--WITHOUT BUMPING INTO THEM. THE TEAM EVEN DESIGNED A LOCATOR SYSTEM SO YOU CAN DIG THEM UP LATER. SPACED ABOUT 80 TO 160 FEET APART, IN A GRID, THE SENSORS WOULD TRANSMIT DATA BACK TO A CENTRAL COMPUTER THAT GENERATES HI-RESOLUTION, REAL-TIME CONDITION REPORTS--ESSENTIALLY, SOIL-SNAPSHOTS. THESE COULD HELP FARMERS USE JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNTS OF WATER AND FERTILIZER TO BOTH MAXIMIZE CROP YIELD, AND MINIMIZE COSTS. THE NEXT STEP? THE RESEARCHERS ARE BUILDING AND TESTING A WORKING NETWORK OF SENSORS, IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO FINE-TUNE, EXPAND, AND MAXIMIZE ITS CAPABILITIES. IT'S FIELD-WORK--IN THIS CASE, IN A REAL FIELD. THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV--OR ON THEIR PODCAST.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
