Thomas Jefferson famously called the New York's Lake George "the most beautiful waters I ever saw." Now science will help to keep that natural beauty from dimming. The Fund for Lake George has teamed up with IBM and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) to roll out a wide range of sensors, robots, weather stations and other technologies to monitor conditions in Lake George, making it "the smartest lake in the world."

 

The sensors will keep track of everything from currents to wind conditions to nitrogen content. "We do not have a complete picture of Lake George scientifically, and we need it," Fund for Lake George executive director Eric Siy told Weather Underground. Although the lake is in much better shape than many others, it faces a wide range of potential threats, mostly related to human development.