Researchers from two California Universities have found a way to utilized the tiny accelerometers that are used in laptops to detect falls in a revolutionary way.
They discovered they can use these sensors to detect earthquakes, and they have created the world's largest, low-cost strong-motion seismic network.
Interested in participating in the network? You can go to their site to download the Quake-Catcher software onto your laptop and it will convert your computer into a sensor when not in use.
The systems largest success happened last July when computers detected the 5.4 quake in Los Angeles.