Buildings could detect their own structural faults and respond in real time to seismic events.

Institutions and individuals could reliably measure toxic levels at very low concentrations, and trace contamination back to its source.

Buoys along the coast could alert surfers, swimmers, and fishermen to dangerous bacterial levels in the water.

We could infuse complex and endangered ecosystems with chemical, physical, acoustic, and image sensors to continuously track global change.

Dangerous bacterial and contaminant levels could be detected on the farm through dense sampling, instead of "in the market" through sparse sampling.