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Backed "Radiation Detection Hardware Network in Japan"

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I backed RDTN.org: Radiation Detection Hardware Network in Japan on Kickstarter today. It's a project that plans to install sensors in Japan to monitor radiation after the earthquake. The data from the sensors will be released under a CC license, which is awesome. Having an open, community run data gathering project prevents censorship of the data or other manipulation by governments whose concern may be more for its powerbase than the well-being of its constituents.

Safecast.org (formerly RDTN.org) is a website whose purpose is to provide an aggregate feed of nuclear radiation data from governmental, non-governmental and citizen-scientist sources. That data will be made available to everyone, including scientists and nuclear experts who can provide context for lay people. In the weeks following launch, it has become evident that there is a need for additional radiation reporting from the ground in Japan. This Kickstarter project will help us purchase up to 600 Geiger Counter devices that will be deployed to Japan. (The project minimum will fund about 100 devices). The data captured from these devices will feed into our website and will also be made available for others to use via Pachube, an open-source platform for monitoring sensor data globally. Our field members will be trained by ouradvisors to properly use these devices. The field members will be required to report to the website 8-10 times per day.

Open-Source Underpinnings:

We will make the raw data available from our network for anyone to use under Creative Commons 0 dedication. It is our goal that providing this data to non-profit organizations, governments and scientists will keep people and societies more informed in the current crisis as well as future incidents where data might otherwise be scarce.



Update: FUNDED! on 5/7

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