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GPS Could Speed Tsunami Warning
wwood_98 writes to tell us that Wired is running a story about how GPS could serve more than its traditional role. From the article: "International organizations like the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, or PTWC, in Hawaii currently depend on coastal seismic stations to record deep-sea earthquakes that could cause giant waves. But according to Jeff Freymueller, a geophysicist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, data from GPS receivers could provide quicker, more accurate estimates of the magnitude of a tsunami-causing quake, buying time for evacuation. Freymueller presented his findings at this week's American Geophysical Union conference in San Francisco."
But this is just ridiculous. I mean honestly, when was the last tsunami before this recent event? Does anyone honestly think their tiny human little heads will be perking up 2000 years later just as vividly, watching the GPS screens, when the next tsunami comes? Seriously, give it a break. There was nothing we could have done. And perhaps in the future we will be able to do something beforehand. But that's not worth reporting, because I'll bet you my two arms and three balls that we won't have a tsunami in the next 100 years. This is just another tiny scientific advancement which isn't really worthy of taking up our time, because we're not going to ever see it in use, and we're not going to care.