Scientists at the Technische Universität Darmstadt have developed software, with which smartphones can automatically and autonomously organize an energy-efficient, ad-hoc network. Rapid organization of such a communications network can be vital in the event of disasters where normal communications infrastructures have been destroyed, since smartphones could then exchange, e.g., environmental-sensor data. http://www.tu-darmstadt.de/vorbeischauen/aktuell/ni_37632.en.jsp