Smartphones can soon help predict flash floods: Study
New York, Aug 25 : With smartphones capable of measuring atmospheric pressure, temperatures and humidity, a novel study suggested that the devices may one day be able to track and anticipate weather patterns that leads to flash floods.
Researchers noted that smartphones can be harnessed to forecast flash floods as well as other natural disasters.
"The sensors in our smartphones are constantly monitoring our environment including gravity, the earth's magnetic field, atmospheric pressure, light levels, humidity, temperatures, sound levels and more," said lead researcher Colin Price, Professor at the Tel Aviv University.
"Vital atmospheric data exists today on some 3 to 4 billion smartphones worldwide. This data can improve our ability to accurately forecast the weather and other natural disasters that are taking so many lives every year," he added.
In the study, published in the Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics, the team placed four smartphones under controlled conditions and analysed the data to detect phenomena such as "atmospheric tides," which are similar to ocean tides.
They also analysed data from a UK-based app called WeatherSignal.
While the smartphones could provide real-time weather alerts through a feedback loop, the public was able to find atmospheric data on the "cloud" via an application.
This data would then be processed into real-time forecasts and returned to the users with a forecast or a warning to those in danger zones, the researchers explained.
"We can't prevent flash floods from happening, but soon we may be able to use the public's smartphone data to generate better forecasts and give these forecasts back to the public in real time via their phones," Price noted.
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4 workers die after being buried under coal slurry in Jharkhand's Dhanbad
Dhanbad (Jharkhand) (PTI): At least four workers died after being buried under coal slurry in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district on Saturday, a police official said.
The incident took place at Moonidih coal washery in the command area of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL).
"Bodies of all four workers were dug out of debris during a rescue operation," Putki police station in-charge Waqar Hussain told PTI.
The incident took place when coal slurry was being loaded into trucks by workers, during which a large chunk of slurry fell and trapped several workers underneath, officials said.
The deceased have been identified as Manik Bauri, Dinesh Bauri, Deepak Bauri, and Hemlal Gope.
Meanwhile, the family members of the deceased and local villagers placed the bodies in front of the washery gate and began a protest.
They demanded compensation, jobs for dependents and action against those responsible for the incident.
Police and administration officials are trying to pacify the protesters, an official said.
