Ten pigeons wearing tiny backpack sensors are currently flying over the skies of London in an attempt to raise awareness of the poor air quality in the British capital though the platform of Twitter. The pollution-sensing backpacks are fitted with miniature sensors to measure levels of nitrogen dioxide and ozone in the city’s atmosphere, Tech Radar reported. Called Pigeon Patrol, the project is a joint venture between marketing firm DigitasLBi and Plume Labs, who already provide air report apps for Android and iOS. The firms are hoping to recruit 100 people to test a new pollution sensor, like the ones worn by the pigeons, in partnership with Imperial College London. It is the latest in a series of examples of the ways in which small, low-powered sensors - and the mountains of data gathered from them - can be used to track everything from traffic patterns to air pollution levels. “We’re making the invisible visible,” Pierre Duquesnoy, who first came up with the idea, told The Guardian. “It is a scandal. It is a health and environmental scandal for humans - and pigeons.” The Pigeon Patrol project is due to finish on Wednesday.
