Researchers studying the spread of disease can have a difficult time getting reliable information about how populations of people travel between locations. Thankfully, said populations do tend to wander around with tiny electronic transmitters in their pockets. In other words, by tapping into cell phone records, researchers are at last beginning to explore how to make more accurate epidemic models in anticipation of when the next big disease outbreak hits.
Flavio Finger of the École Polytechnique Fédérale Lausanne in Switzerland put the cell phone data to the test in Senegal, Discover reports. Finger used records kept by the country's main service provider, which charts what tower a user's phone connects to when a call or text is sent, and when. Relying on that data, Finger was able to successfully chart the flow of religious pilgrims during a 2005 cholera outbreak:
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Thrilling must-see operas for 2025The Week Recommends From Carmen to Peter Grimes, these are the UK's top productions
-
There is a 'third state' between life and deathUnder the radar Cells can develop new abilities after their source organism dies
-
Is it worth getting an interest-only mortgage?The Explainer Your monthly payments may be cheaper but the full mortgage amount will need to be paid back eventually
-
Arab leaders embrace Egypt's Gaza rebuilding planSpeed Read The $53 billion proposal would rebuild Gaza without displacing Palestinian residents
-
Germany's conservatives win power amid far-right gainsSpeed Read The party led by Friedrich Merz won the country's national election; the primary voter issues were the economy and immigration
-
Russia frees US teacher Marc Fogel in murky 'exchange'Speed Read He was detained in Moscow for carrying medically prescribed marijuana
-
Hamas pauses Gaza hostage release, upending ceasefireSpeed Read Hamas postponed the next scheduled hostage release 'until further notice,' accusing Israel of breaking the terms of their ceasefire deal
-
Baltic States unplug from Russian grid, join EU'sSpeed Read Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are disconnecting from the Soviet-era electricity grid to join the EU's network
-
At least 11 killed in Sweden adult ed school shootingSpeed Read The worst mass shooting in Swedish history took place in Orebro
-
Who is the Hat Man? 'Shadow people' and sleep paralysisIn Depth 'Sleep demons' have plagued our dreams throughout the centuries, but the explanation could be medical
-
Same-sex marriage becomes legal in ThailandSpeed Read The law grants same-sex spouses the same rights as married heterosexual couples
