Scientists from the University of California (UC) want to harness smartphones to detect cosmic radiation.

The CRAYFIS (Cosmic Rays Found in Smartphones) project is aimed at using the cameras in smartphones and tablets to detect the lower-energy particles that are produced when cosmic rays strike the Earth’s atmosphere. In that effort, the researchers want to buil a detector as large as possible.

Interesting enough, the silicon-based CMOS sensors in mobile device cameras work along the same principles as the sensors used in massive particle accelerators.

UC Davis physicist Michael Mulhearn wrote: “We are attempting to build a detector that spans the entire world. It turns out that the efficiency of each cell phone for detecting cosmic rays is right at a point where, with enough people, we’ll be able to make world-class measurements.”

The scientist have created an app the can report when a particle hits the camera sensor and relay the related GPS info. The data are collated on a map on the CRAYFIS website.

Mulhearn wrote: “Most importantly, we have to make sure plenty of people around the world get involved and run our app. We need to continue to fine-tune our algorithms to be as efficient as possible. A major technical challenge for us will be understanding (and correcting for) variations in detection efficiency that vary from phone to phone.”