Via Mike at Starhill comes this report of an intriguing study about sensor net research.

It presents a gee-whiz view of the future in which RFID plays a central role.

It points out that IT is on the verge of another revolution, where sensors will be embedded in the physical world. From them mankind can monitor the environment (e.g., plankton colonies and endangered species), manmade structures (e.g., bridges and buildings), and other aspects of our physical world, enabling us to "see" things previously unobservable.

The effort is being led by Professor Deborah Estrin, Director of CENS, the Center for Embedded Networked Sensing.

Intriguing stuff.