Here's an example of how technology really can change things. As a native Californian, earthquakes are a reality. With the advent of smartphones and the Internet of Things, it seems like technology ought to be leveraged for public safety and peace of mind.
This is one of those things that must be funded.
Once fully developed, the system could give downtown Los Angeles 40 to 50 seconds of warning that the “Big One” was headed from the San Andreas fault, giving time for elevators to stop at the next floor and open up, firefighters to open up garage doors, high-speed trains to slow down to avoid derailment and surgeons to take the scalpel out of a patient.
A lack of funds, however, has slowed the system's progress.
The system works because while earthquakes travel at the speed of sound, sensors that initially detect the shaking near the epicenter of a quake can send a message faster -- at the speed of light -- to warn residents farther away that the quake is coming.
It would be tragic if lives are lost because politicians couldn't find the money to get this built. It should be top on the priority list.
