Scientists Pick up Seismic Vibrations from Human Transportation

"Planes, trains and automobiles create the noisy background to our lives--especially in urban areas. In addition to getting us from point A to point wherever-we're-headed, the swift movement of transportation creates plenty of noise and vibrations. But the low-frequency noise of these vibrations is usually completely unnoticed by humans, until now," writes Mary Beth Griggs.

That's because researchers from Scripps Institution of Oceanography used a network of 5,300 geophones in Long Beach, California, once used for oil and gas surveys, to pick up on the vibrations caused by human transportation."

According to a press release announcing the discovery, the researchers were able to "follow a metro schedule, count aircraft and their acceleration on a runway, and even see larger vehicles on a 10-lane highway."