There were a lot of great technologies invented around the time of 9/11, especially after 9/11 because of the terrible events of that terrible day and how there was a lot of chaos. There were many questions raised about our responses to 9/11 that spawned a rise of new technologies to be used to search for people and help in the aftermath. Technologies like a voice internet protocol that allowed people to talk on phones through the internet. The biggest thing about this technology is that if one node would fail, the whole system would still be fully operational.
Another cool technology that was invented was a robot that could traverse terrain like that of 9/11 debris at ‘Ground Zero’ and the Pentagon to give the survivors water and food until rescuers could pull them from the rubble. Another great technology that I like the most probably because I have a huge interest in aviation is the helicopter and planes that could fly over debris looking for survivors. These small helicopters can be used with video cameras that can survey the scene from above and send wireless video back to the team in the field for a better direction of where survivors and victims are located.
Night-vision sensor systems that are using heat imagery that can see where individuals are amongst debris. The individuals would appear to be a black shape amongst the debris or land being a gray scale. These cameras and sensor systems are highly effective and are not just used in disaster relief.
I believe these types of technologies should be used in disaster relief and those companies and organizations that respond to disasters either natural or human-made shall be using these inventions to help locate survivors.
I don’t believe that there is a price tag to saving a life; human beings are driven to save all those that can be saved. They will go to extraordinary ends to save a life, whether it is a family member, friend, or total stranger that is in need of help or rescuing.
My idea is that within these organizations there should be a department that creates and develops new technologies for better and effective search and rescue if you will in finding survivors and victims of a disaster of any kind. The following link talks more about the technologies used and developed.
Evan, I found the topics that you discussed in this blog very interesting because they were similar topics that I went over in my own blog just a few days ago. The part that I was most interested in about the entire blog was when you spoke of all the different types of new technologies that were used post Hurricane Katrina in order to save people. These machines were used to do jobs be remote control that humans could not have done on their own. My favorite example of this was the robot that could fit through debris and rubble where humans are too large to fit and give people that are trapped food and water until a team could get them out.
ReplyDeleteI also wanted to comment on the fact that humans will go to extraordinary lengths to save each other when put in a disaster situation. I have my full support behind this topic because it has been proven time in time again when a disaster happens. Contrary to popular belief, humanitarian groups, non-profit organizations, and government agencies play a big role in saving lives post natural disasters, but they are not the leading role. It has been proven time after time that the leading role in saving lives after a disaster is the civilians that are living through the disaster.
I thought you did a very good job at describing the Katrina disaster and you did a great job explaining all the new technologies that were invented after the 9/11 attacks and implemented after Hurricane Katrina. I think you could have been a little more specific and in depths with what some of the technologies did, but overall this was a very interesting blog post and I enjoyed learning about these new technologies. Keep up the good blog posts.
Hey there Evan,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you when you say that a lot of great technologies were invented after the attacks of September 11th, 2001, as well as many great new protocols surrounding events that we never before thought would have to be made. VoIP, Voice over Internet Protocol, was definitely such a technology that came about as a response to 9/11.
Personally I had no idea that a robot was invented that could manage to travel across the debris of disaster areas. I also have some indirect personal experience with the helicopters; my dad was in charge of a few of the helicopters that took pictures of ground zero with thermal imaging technology to see what parts of the disaster zone were the hottest over weeks. This kind of aerial photography is also used in disaster relief when looking for people in rubble.
I do have to disagree with you that all human beings will go to extraordinary means to save a fellow human being. I would argue that according to the fundamentals of social psychology most individuals do not help others in need, especially when in a rush, when they themselves need help, or when no one else in the group deems the other person as needing help; the first two were inherently present during the 9/11 attacks. All in all, you blog was really good.