Save the Trees!

Deforestation is an objectively bad thing. Trees are the planet’s filtration system, so the more the better. We need forests in order to stay alive. Of course, we need other things trees provide as well, so some deforestation is necessary. As a result, a delicate balance must be struck in order to preserve our forests while reaping all the treasures they have to offer.

Illegal deforestation disrupts that balance, up to 150,000 square kilometers per year, or roughly the size of the state of Louisiana. Nearly 90 percent of tropical deforestation is illegal. Something must be done!

Google to the rescue.

Using solar powered smartphones equipped with Google’s AI framework TensorFlow, forest rangers and law enforcement can listen to the sounds of the forest and filter out suspicious noises.

Think of the faces as sounds…

These devices, called “Guardians”, are left in remote areas of large forests, and can detect sounds caused by man-made activities, things like chainsaws cutting through dense tree trunks or large logging trucks rumbling over dirt roads, for example. A warning signal with the precise location of the offending sounds are then sent to the relevant agencies.

More like “Smokey the Badass”

TensorFlow technology is provided for free, but works best on Google’s own cloud platform (always a catch).

I imagine there are other uses for such technology, home security perhaps being the most obvious. There are of course other darker purposes one could devise. Less “Guardian” than “Eavesdropper”.

But who needs such worries in such paranoid times? For now, let us enjoy the fact that the good people at Google might be helping us breathe for a little longer.





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