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There's a new kind of mineral exploration being tested in the mountains of Utah.

It's not drilling. It's not dynamite. It's not that invasive. It's a metallic device, roughly the size of a football.

And if you were hiking and you came across when you might not even notice it.

These devices are ambient noise tomography sensors.

Most people just call them nodes.

And what they're doing is sending information to a satellite in orbit.

The nodes listen to the natural vibrations of the Earth.

And using that data, scientists can map the structure beneath the surface.

What they're looking for are areas that might contain copper and lithium and nickel, you know, the kinds of minerals that power modern life.

These mining companies don't need permits or formal approval to place the notes on public land, at least not for now. And this was the thing that interested the journalist

Lawrence Steele. In a piece she wrote for the Atlantic, Steele went into Utah's Tosher Mountains

with two mountain guides because she wanted to see this new phase of

exploration where the rules haven't yet cut up to the technology.

There was a bit of cognitive dissonance, right?

You're looking at these 13,000-foot peaks, sweeping meadows, huge stands of aspen trees, the wind that's just

always ripping, and then something catches your eye, there's a gleam, this node. It's silvery,

somewhat boldous.

There's a carrying strap that actually looks like what a climbing rope looks like

that fits prowl above everything else, so you can just pick it up and carry it like a purse.

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