Cell phones used to detect cosmic rays worldwide

[Hornbein]

There are now more active cell phones than humans. (?) The camera lenses of cell phones can detect cosmic rays. An app has been created that stores such detections in a data base. The app has been used in Iceland, Uzbekistan, and Uganda. There is no apparent practical use, it is for "outreach and education."

http://arxiv.org/abs/1510.07665

 

[Vanadium 50]

Already being discussed: https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/measuring-cosmic-rays-there's-an-app-for-that.776116/

 

[Hornbein]

Already being discussed: https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/measuring-cosmic-rays-there's-an-app-for-that.776116/

The 2014 paper is a proposal. The 2015 is an actuality.

 

[websterling]

It's also 2 different groups/apps- Distributed Electronic Cosmic-ray Observatory (DECO) at the University of Wisconsin (this thread), and Cosmic RAYs Found In Smartphones (CRAYFIS) at University of California, Irvine (the other thread). I played around with both of them late last year and found them both to be a bit flaky on my ASUS table.

These types of apps will probably be short-lived as advances in detector design and imaging processing will eliminate these types of artifacts in the images.