Unless there is an earthquake rumbling or a volcano erupting, we don't pay much attention to the ground beneath our feet. EarthScope aims to change all that. This huge project links instruments and observatories all over the U.S. to collect data about our continent and its continuing evolution. The high-speed California Research and Education Network (CalREN) is being used to transmit the data that EarthScope generates.

EarthScope aims to provide "a fundamental data base for the next generation of geoscientists." Geoscientists will be able to access the data base for analysis and visualization. Those of us who aren't geoscientists can play with the data here, using an interactive mapping tool.