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Cell Phones: Tracking the Urban Herds |
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Dr. Samuel Says -
Arts & Science
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Written by Dr. Samuel Centralia, Ph.D., D.D.S., Esq.
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Wednesday, 04 June 2008 |
Some fascinating new research published in the journal Nature this week. Like most Dyscern readers, I suspect, I like to keep a stack of scientific journals in the kitchen for light reading over breakfast. In the study, researchers used location-tracking data from cell phones to monitor the movement patterns of that fascinating species, the Modern Urban Denizen.
 Unsurprisingly, the data suggest that most people tend to move
very little, congregating regularly in only a few places, usually
within only a few miles of each other -- work and home, principally.
But a significant minority of cell phone users travel extensively; "far
and wide," as the kids say.
What's significant is that the
researchers were able to obtain very specific location data from a
European provider of cell phone service. Under new antiterrorism rules,
companies are required to preserve call and location information. The
information was scrambled so that individual users could not be
identified. But even in aggregate, this is much more specific
information that scientists have ever been able to collect before. It's
like putting radio ear tags on 100,000 city dwellers for a year.
The
research could have a huge impact in fields like disease tracking and
urban planning. In particular, outfits like the Center for Disease
Control can use the data sets to model potential disease vectors and,
ideally, prevent pandemics. I suppose it's on my mind since watching
A&E's remake of "the Andromeda Strain" last week. I'm a sucker for
end-of-the-world scenarios, which is why I maintain several underground
bunkers in undisclosed locations worldwide.
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