Wits builds tiny transmitter that could help save the lives of trapped miners
The matchbox-sized circuit board with a short aerial can transmit the vital statistics and location of missing miners underground
SA may have been built on the back of its lucrative mining industry but every year‚ that same industry tragically claims the lives of those doing the hardest work for the lowest pay.The Kusasalethu mine disaster near Carletonville in August is just one of many examples: five miners went missing and were then found dead‚ leaving their families emotionally devastated and without a reliable source of income.Now‚ scientists at the University of the Witwatersrand have come up with a tiny device that could save the lives of many miners who put their own safety at risk everyday.It is a matchbox-sized circuit board with a short aerial that can transmit the vital statistics and location of missing miners underground‚ according to a statement released by the university. A few of the devices can be stationed around the underground as "nodes" attached to the miners‚ keeping track of their whereabouts in an environment in which traditional digital technology won’t function."Through this collabor...
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