IN A military-style nerve centre in Vienna, a bunch of scientists are watching over the entire planet. Giant computers process a torrent of data that pours in through secure satellite links from seismic detectors all over the globe, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Today they have seen nothing unusual. Tomorrow could be different.
But let’s hope not, for these are the scientists charged with spotting whether someone, somewhere has decided to explode a nuclear bomb. Their network is the International Monitoring System, an unprecedented global surveillance system.
Designed to warn of illicit nuclear tests, the IMS is…
