GE to install Wi-Fi in Nicaragua volcano as early warning system

By Alessandra Potenza

You can get Wi-Fi almost anywhere nowadays — even on the NYC subway platform. So how about connecting an entire volcano to the internet? General Electric is working on that. The goal is not to allow tourists to more easily post Instagram photos, but to gather data to better predict when a volcano will erupt.

GE is partnering with explorer and filmmaker Sam Cossman and the Nicaraguan government to install about 80 wireless sensors inside one of the country’s active volcanoes. The volcano, named Masaya and situated just outside the capital Managua, has a rare lava lake in its crater.