I love seeing a company with as much information, power and potential for exponentially increasing power choosing to contribute to society in meaningful ways.
Google Flu Trends
Google Flu Trends, based on Internet search activity, predicts new outbreaks of flu in the US.
A steady stream of new mutated flu viruses reach Europe and Northern America from Asia, leading to sore throats, runny noses and feverish days and nights, and there seems to be nothing we can do about it.
Normally you would look to the medical field for a solution (there is not one yet), but now Google wants to use web search to help out.
New Scientist reports that Google Flu Trends, created by the company’s philanthropic arm, Google.org, provides daily estimates of the number of flu cases in the US.
Google uses its database of internet search queries to do this. In short Google counts the number of queries related to flu symptoms and look for changes in the number of such searches. A surge in searches indicates that there is a new outbreak.
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clipped from www.pandia.com
