Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
RFID Sensor Tag Shower For Disasters
RFID tags with sensors are being used for a number of different applications. For example, pure sake has been transported with RFID tags that measure temperature to assure quality (see graphic below). The Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has proposed a more serious use - to gather information at the scene of a disaster.
(RFID sensor tags detect temperature)
In the event of an earthquake or tsunami that destroys the local telecommunications infrastructure, RFID sensor tags could be sprinkled from helicopters. The Ministry estimates that as many as 10,000 individual tags might be needed to cover an area the size of a major airport.
These tags would be equipped with integrated sensors to detect heat and vibration; once deployed, they could be read at intervals by aircraft passing close overhead. In this way, it might be possible to quickly locate people still left alive.
The integration of sensors into RFID tags is still in its infancy; other sensor tags exist to detect specific gases or even specific organic molecules. The Japanese system is supposed to be ready for testing by 2007.
This reminded me strongly of similar activities carried out in science fiction writer Robert Silverberg's 1969 novel The Man in the Maze. In the novel, alien worlds are investigated by showering the planet with a thousand throw-away sensor devices like the recording eye. Here is what one of the recording eyes sent back:
...three alien figures came strolling through the somber grove. They were elongated, almost spidery, with clusters of eight or ten jointed limbs depending from their narrow shoulders...One of them paused, bent peered closely at the ground. It scooped up the eye that had been witnessing its activities. The image grew chaotic; Muller guessed that the eye was being passed from hand to hand...
(Read more about the recording eye
In the same novel, a large protective field that covers an entire city is tested by showering the city with small pellets that would interact with the field at precisely one meter intervals. By recording each instance in which the pellet was destroyed, it provided a complete visualization of the protective field.
Read more about the plan to sprinkle RFID sensor tags
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 3/20/2006)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Index of related articles:
What is RFID?
How RFID Works
How is RFID used inside a living body?
What can RFID be used for?
Is RFID Technology Secure and Private?
Are There Concerns About How RFID Will Be Used? (Update)
Next-Generation Uses of RFID?
What Are Zombie RFID Tags?
Problems With RFID
RFID Information Technology Articles
Advantages of RFID Versus Barcodes
RFID Glossary
Contactless Credit Card Advantages
Contactless Credit Card Disadvantages
Related News Stories - (" Communication ")
Birds Learn To Sing Pictures ala Frank Herbert's Distrans
'We will fight in the time of fighting.' - Frank Herbert, 1965.
Polish Turns Your Nail Into A Stylus
'He wrote on it, using the pointed fingernail of his right forefinger...' - Cordwainer Smith, 1950.
Huawei Pura X Folding Phattie Phone
Why can't we get more innovative phone configurations?
Positioned Cybertrucks With Free Starlinks WiFi In LA
'Several thousand of them formed the positioning grid on the rubble pile.' Vernor Vinge, 1999.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
'If Anyone Is Watching Earth...'
'Our study of your race has convinced us that you are not fitted to leave your planet in the present state of your civilization.'
Epirus High-Power Microwave Defeats Drones
'...the spreading beam of the deranging ray struck them, and Then one toppled and fell. Then another.'
Cloud Of Space Rubbish From China's Long March Rocket
'Within seconds the material was spread out over fifty yards, in a matter of hours it might occupy several cubic miles of space...'
Biomimetic Tendons From Rochu Robotics
'... the curious parallelism to animal motions.'
Living Human Neuron Biological Compute Rack
'The men are dead, but their acquired wisdom lives on and I am the beneficiary.'
Martha Stewart Approves Ojai 'Living Room On Wheels'
'Young people found the driverless car admirable for petting.'
ESA's Draco To Study Heat Of Reentry
'...a synthetic which air-friction would erode.'
Buy A Galaxy? Maybe Start Smaller
'The sky is the limit' just got higher.
The United States Space Academy Is Official
'Is our orbit to Space Academy clear?'
Is There A Global Problem With Who Is Having Children?
'After twenty generations of shillyshallying...'
You Will Eat The Cookies Made From Plastic...
'Our planes are going to start bringing in bales of discarded plastics...'
It's A Giant Robot! You Reporters Have Been Warned!
'... completely forgetting the ship at sight of the awesome figure and great head of the giant Gaut...'
Birds Learn To Sing Pictures ala Frank Herbert's Distrans
'We will fight in the time of fighting.'
ElectionSim: China's 'Ender's Game' Battle Sim, Or Lem's 'Kingdom In A Box'?
'So, Ender, we will now begin your education.'
Tactile Skin Supplier Map
'What strange sensitivity! What an amazing development of science was manifested in every move and act and word of this Robot!'
Flock Stymied By 'Adversarial Fashion'
'Forget the head atop it, the legs below, feet, arms, hands. It compels erasure.'
