FIELDS OF GOLD: Satellite imagery could help monitor crops in the Russian steppes.
WHEN people say knowledge is power, they usually mean “money.” Even the great scientist and innovator Galileo Galilei knew that.
In 1609, Galileo wowed Venice’s big cheeses by letting them use his telescope to see ships way out at sea, a good two hours before their owners would see them enter the port. The Venetians were impressed (they doubled Galileo’s salary and gave him lifetime tenure at the University of Padua) because they immediately saw the huge financial and military advantages offered by this visionary device. A few hundred years later, we are on the cusp of an equally radical transformation in how information is gathered, analyzed and monetized. And if we pay attention, we might even save the planet.