Taking Earth's Pulse

In light of the wonderful, caring way that Preznit Horse Cranker is taking care of the planet, I think this article in the NYTimes is very interesting.

In the wilds of the San Jacinto Mountains, along a steep canyon, scientists are turning 30 acres of pines and hardwoods in California into a futuristic vision of environmental study.

"It's a sea change across a whole range of fields," said Dr. Robert S. Detrick, a senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod. "The objective is long-term investigation of temporal, climate or human impact. It's a big change."

"It's the largest undertaking in the history of geoscience," said Dr. Gregory E. van der Vink, project director of EarthScope, which is based in Washington. "It's about instrumenting North America."

The scientists say the nation should press ahead because the opportunities are so great and the stakes so high.

"It's a paradigm shift," Dr. William J. Kaiser of the Center for Embedded Network Sensing said of innovative new ways of monitoring the environment. "It's going to change the way we think."

I hereby volunteer to take a bunch of the largest probes they got and go to Washington D.C.. Believe me, I know right where to stick 'em for maximum effect.