Page 28 - AT

A28 SCIENCE
Friday 9 November 2018
Live-streaming a marshland for fun - and science

By MATT O'BRIEN Audubon to transform the
PLYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) land into what it might
— If a tree falls in the Tid- have looked like before it
marsh Wildlife Sanctuary, it was carved into manmade
doesn't matter if there's no bogs in the 19th century.
one around. You can hear The research projects re-
it anyway. flect the diverse interests
That's because research- of multimedia scholars.
ers have hidden dozens of Davenport is a documen-
wireless sensor nodes, mi- tary filmmaker. Others are
crophones and cameras computer scientists or mu-
among the cattails and ce- sicians. One project cre-
dars of this Plymouth, Mas- ates soundtracks driven by
sachusetts nature preserve. sensor readings — such as
Sounds picked up from the higher pitches that indicate
marsh and nearby wood- warmer temperatures.
land feed into an artificial Another resembles a more
intelligence system that ethereal version of the
can identify frogs or crick- In this Thursday Nov. 1, 2018 photo, Brian Mayton, a research assistant at the MIT Media Lab Re- Pokemon Go augmented
ets, ducks or a passing air- sponsive Environment group, holds his mobile phone receiving live stream video and audio data reality game, but with elk-
plane. at a marshland in Plymouth, Mass., which is equipped with wireless sensors, cameras and micro- like phantoms galloping
One goal is to help sci- phones to create a virtual reality world inspired by nature's rhythms. around a virtual world mod-
entists better understand eled on the marsh. If the
changing climates and the Pilgrims landed in 1620. or the return of an endan- Educators have also asked sensors pick up a rainstorm
improve wildlife restoration Remotely spying on nature gered species, from a well- Davenport why she would at the real-life Tidmarsh, the
techniques. Beyond that, isn't new, but the project crafted smartphone app or want to encourage kids to animated creatures ap-
though, researchers want goes far beyond simple a virtual reality game? carry around their smart- pear to get wet. If there's
to use the collected data webcams fixed on a hawk's If it works here, Davenport phones instead of just ap- a loud, sudden sound, they
to help power an online vir- nest or sea lions' favorite said, researchers are al- preciating nature without become startled.
tual reality world — a kind pier — or even the more ready envisioning more them. Yet another experiment in-
of alternate universe mod- sophisticated acoustic sen- ambitious projects deep in "And I went, 'Why not?' volves strapping on a spe-
eled on live conditions in sors designed to detect an- the Amazon rainforest — or That's how they learn. That cial headset while walking
the marsh, but populated imal poachers. on the moon. is their mechanism of inter- through the sanctuary. On
with fanciful creatures in- The team's goals for what The idea has skeptics who acting," she said. a hot afternoon in late sum-
vented in a computer sci- they call the Living Obser- are worried about the in- The sanctuary is beginning mer, MIT researcher Ger-
ence lab. vatory include supporting trusion of technology and to flourish as it changes shon Dublon and his col-
Could this be the future of wildlife restoration efforts. constant surveillance into from a heavily-fertilized in- leagues tromped around
the nature walk? The sensors measure tem- the world's last places with- dustrial cranberry farm into the preserve in chest-high
As wireless sensors get perature, moisture and out it . The Massachusetts a wetland full of insects, waders to show how the
cheaper, longer-lasting other environmental condi- Audubon Society manag- birds and native plants. The sensors can amplify a hu-
and more sophisticated, tions. es the 480-acre sanctuary base camp for MIT scholars man's observation of na-
they're increasingly turn- But a broader mission is to and took some time before is also Davenport's home, ture.
ing up everywhere. We're offer people — including it agreed to outfit it with which she built in 1999 af- "The forest is a lot more ac-
already seeing them in children — a deeper un- live-streaming cameras ter first visiting the prop- tive than you would think,
"smart" homes and cities, derstanding of nature us- and microphones. It was erty in the early 1980s. As because wildlife is qui-
pulling in data that can ing their laptops, phones or assured that human voices landowners, she and her eter when you're nearby,"
be analyzed in real time to headsets. They can do so would be scrambled. husband partnered with Dublon said.q
smooth traffic flows, save remotely or in person while
energy, monitor pollution or walking a nature trail, said
respond to crime. But what the project's visionary, Glo- First monarch butterflies arrive
happens when you apply rianna Davenport, a retired
such an internet-connect- professor and co-founder
ed network to nature? of the MIT Media Lab. at Mexico wintering area
A research team at the "It's gorgeous to walk in the
Massachusetts Institute of woods and not be fiddling MEXICO CITY (AP) — The first returning to their homes. vious winter. As recently as
Technology has been trying with a cell phone," Dav- monarch butterflies have But this year, the Environ- 1996-1997 they covered 44
it out at Tidmarsh, a former enport said. On the other arrived at their wintering ment Department said the acres (18 hectares).
cranberry bog converting hand, she added, what if grounds in the mountains first butterflies weren't seen There have been several
back to natural wetlands you can learn more about of central Mexico almost a in the mountain reserve rebound years, but each
just a few miles from where the microbial environment, week later than usual, Mex- west of Mexico City until has generally been less
ico's Environment Depart- Nov. 6. It said the butterflies than the preceding up-
ment said Wednesday. were delayed because swing.
Millions of monarchs make they waited out rainy Increased use of herbi-
the 3,400-mile (5,500-kilo- weather around the U.S.- cides in the United States
meter) migration from the Mexico border. have hurt the prevalence
United States and Canada The monarchs spend the of milkweed, which mon-
each year. The butterflies winter clumped together arch caterpillars feed on,
usually arrive by Mexico's in fir and pine trees. Last risking their survival. Loss of
Nov. 1 Day of the Dead year the monarchs cov- tree cover in Mexico due
holiday, and local residents ered about 6.12 acres (2.48 to drought, storms and log-
long associated their return hectares), down about ging has also affected the
with the souls of the dead 14.7 percent from the pre- butterflies' population.q