Wireless Gadgets Crowding Out Scientific Instruments
Apparently the recent surge in wireless technology may be affecting astronomy and Earth Science devices. The vast amount of wireless devices are taking up a lot of bandwidth in the electromagnetic spectrum and this causes interference with transmissions from scientific equipment on earth and in space. Several groups such as NASA have complained that the radio signals that they receive have become unusable because of interference. Some of the machines that have been having problems are earth sensors that keep track of the Earth's natural systems, government communication devices, and radio astronomy that helps us study things like the origin of the universe.
It's interesting that this problem is occurring when most people consider the proliferation of wireless technology to be a good thing. Wireless phones allow people to communicate more then ever and are essential for many people in the workplace. There's certainly people who'd say that they need it in their social life too. I expect that this was an unforseen consequence of the growing wireless movement as I have never heard of the problem and I'm sure many others haven't heard either. It is a problem that needs to be rectified though so that we can continue to receive important scientific data about our planet and universe. Wireless gadgets will either have to be reigned in or new technology will need to be invented to deal with the interference.
Source Article
http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=spectrum-management-policy-2009-11-02
November 05, 2009 by William Laundon
Posted in General | 0 Comments »
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