Call it the networked environment. Picture tiny - we're talking small as a dime - wireless sensors lining lake beds and ocean floors, buried in the ground, and floating in the sky. All the time they are sniffing the air, water, and soil for pollutants and detecting changes in temperature and pressure. The payoff: real-time data on a variety of phenomena that affect the economy and society - climate change, hurricanes, air and water pollution. Cooler yet are solar-powered sensors that hover in the air. Virginia tech company Ensco is developing a beach-ball-size gadget that gets its juice from thin-film solar panels and would measure weather patterns. (See the full story.)