With temperatures rising, the earth is getting much dryer in many areas. This is especially a thread for people who live in areas that are already affected by aridity. The consequence? More wildfires, spreading at an ever fast rate, getting more and more difficult to stop.
Thousands of firefighters and volunteers are risking their lives every year to stop these fires. But the work is tedious and slow as they are fighting with the same tools they used decades ago. Basically, they are cutting "roads" into the woods and are that way trying to stop the spreading of the fire.
But advancement is in sight, as three young girls are working on Project Firefly, which aims to include drones in the firefighting process in a sophisticated way. Right now, these small flyers are being used to detect the fires. Project Firefly is right now researching how so-called Vortex Canons can be attached to drones. These canons send rings of air towards the flames and that way can stop the fire from spreading.
With their project, the girls won the #beapirate challenge 2021, an online challenge from Moonshot Pirates where young people from 14 till 19 years of age work for three weeks on their projects to make the world a better place. As winners, the three of them spent a week in Silicon Valley, where they got tons of insights on how to advance their work.
