Came across this really interesting story about how researchers at Lucent Technologies' Bell Labs are developing a technology called "telesensing" that in essence allows for the reading of cellphone signals bounced off the body. It sounds like very "science fiction-ish" stuff, but some of the potential applications could be lifesaving.
According to the researchers, the technology can be used to develop monitors and/or sensors that could track fevers in people, to scan heart and breathing signals in order to figure out who would need treatment first in a disaster area (this would be an incredible breakthrough!), and could be leveraged even in military or law enforcement operations.
Judging from the linked article, it seems that the research is going to mainly focus on health applications, and there is talk of having cellphones embedded with telesensing chips so that users can mointor their own vital signs.
In any event, there's some very interesting work going on with cellular technology other than seeing how many songs or streaming videos one can download on their handset.
