Boston company's sensors revolutionizing wildfire fight: Cutting Edge

ED MIKE WANKUM EXPLAINS IN : TONIGHT’S CUTTING EDGE. MIKE: IT WAS AUSTRALIA’S WORST FIRE SEASON ON RECORD. BUYERS KILLED TWO DOZEN PEOPLE, DESTROYED 2500 HOMES. AN ESTIMATED ONE BILLION ANIMALS DIED, INCLUDING 8000 ICONIC LOVABLE KOALAS. WE HEAR ABOUT THESE FIRES BURNING OUT OF CONTROL, AND THEY SEEM LIKE THEY ARE ALWAYS BURNING OUT OF CONTROL. MIKE: TO GET THEM UNDER CONTROL FASTER, ENTER DATA ROBOT, A BOSTON-BASED LEADER IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. THEY CAN HELP SPOT A FIRE EARLIER WHICH HELPS CREWS GET IT UNDER CONTROL FASTER, ALL BY TAPPING INTO THESE SENSORS. >> THERE IS A SNIFFER THAT STICKS TO DETECT PARTICLES IN THE AIR CHARACTERISTIC OR REPRESENTATIVE OF A FIRE. MIKE: THESE SYSTEMS ARE IN CHILE WHERE MORE THAN 1000 FIRES RAGED LAST YEAR. MORE THAN 1000 SENSORS ARE SPREAD OUT OVER MORE THAN 2108 -- MORE THAN 2100 ACRES. >> WE INGEST THE DATA, TRY TO LOOK FOR PATTERNS, AND BUILD MODELS BASED ON THE PATTERNS. ED: ALL -- MIKE: ALL IN BOSTON FOR A FIRE IN SOUTH AMERICA. >> IT LOOKS AT HISTORICAL DATA, TRIES TO IDENTIFY PATTERNS, AND THEN APPLY THOSE PATTERNS TO FUTURE SITUATIONS. >> THEIR PROGRAMS CAN SPOT A FIRE 12 MINUTES EARLIER. >> IT ALLOWS US TO SPOT THE FIRE MUCH MORE QUICKLY AND PUT IT OUT BEFORE IT SPREADS. >> BECAUSE THE PROJECT HAS BEEN SO SUCCESSFUL WE WOULD LIKE TO REPLICATE IT IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD. >> THAT BRINGS UP THE OBVIOUS QUESTION -- IS THERE A COVID-19 APPLICATION AT ALL? >> THIS AFTERNOON, DATA ROBOT ANNOUNCED THEY ARE OPENING UP THEIR SOFTWARE AND A FREE AI PLATFORM FOR PEOPLE STUDYING THE VIRUS AND ITS IMPACT. THEY ARE OPENING UP SO THEY CAN HOPEFULLY MAKE THIS THING GO AWAY FASTER, SPEED UP RESEARCH. MARIA: SO AMAZING. YOU DID THE STORY BEFORE, CORRECT? MIKE: DID IT A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO. MARIA: SUDDENLY, WHAT YOU JUST SAID BECOMES SO RELEVANT. MIKE: VERY MUCH SO. IT’S IMPACTING THE WORLD NOT JUST IN THE BIO F