Putting cellphone technology to good use

In Reuters Technology Today, there was an article about using cellphone technology in a creative manner. Researchers in South Africa have developed tracking devices that use cell phone sim cards. With coastal cell phone towers have an approximate 1.5 mile range out to sea, the researchers plan on using the new tracking devices on murky dolphins which tend to stay close to the shore.

If it pans out, the researchers plan to use it on other dolphins and possibly whales! Over the past four years this technology has been used to track over 200 land based animals including elephants, zebras, and baboons. Utilizing GPS, you can receive a text message about the location of a particular animal.