Environmentally Conscious, Blogging Pigeons?

On Sympatico, MSN News, the following news story was posted. I found it interesting that they will be using homing pigeons for this test -- interesting in that the pigeon has contributed so much to our society -- often in unrecognized ways -- this has the potential to be another. I sure hope the equipment those birds will be carrying is ultra-light, though, and that they won't have to be travelling too far carrying it.

Because homers are eaily trained to fly and then reliably return to their lofts, it makes perfect sense that they are the bird of choice for the project.

"Bird's-eye view of pollution"
02/14/2006 12:46:51 PM

Twenty city pigeons will sport knapsacks outfitted with air quality sensors, GPS receivers and basic cellphones to record smog levels in San Jose, California.

The sensors will send real-time data on carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide levels to a smog blog. The pigeons will also carry cameras round their necks to add aerial photos to the blog.

So what?

The pigeons are being released this summer as part of the Inter-society for Electronic Arts symposium. The research team hopes the winged bloggers will heighten interest in developing novel ways to monitor the environment.

- NewScientist.com