10.25.2004 ET

(CSRwire) SANTA CLARA, Calif. - One of the last protected homes for the world's giant panda is now unwired. Intel Corporation has deployed a campus-wide broadband and wireless communications network within China's Wolong Nature Reserve to aid researchers in the study, care and preservation of the endangered giant panda.

In addition to significantly improving the communications network at Wolong, Intel is collaborating with GLOBIO, an international education nonprofit organization, to create a learning lab that will allow children around the world to study, collaborate and interact in creative new ways.

The technology improves Wolong's original network and blankets the reserve's main areas. This includes the administrative office, the Wolong Giant Panda Museum, and the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda (CCRCGP), which incorporates the panda breeding center, nursery room, playground and hospital. Researchers are now using Intel(R) Centrino(TM) Mobile technology-based notebook PCs to manage and manipulate the digital content, including photos, video and data of the pandas.

"Intel is in a position of responsibility, not only for making quality products and technologies people trust, but for applying them in ways that are an asset to the worldwide communities in which we live, learn, work and play," said Dave Stangis, Intel director of Corporate Responsibility. "Unwiring Wolong draws on our technical strengths while building on Intel's commitment to China by bringing the latest digital technology to help preserve one of its national treasures."

Digital Technology Enabling Research and Education
Wolong Nature Reserve - generally referred as "Wolong" - is one of the last-protected homes for the world's giant pandas. Located in the lush mountains of the Sichuan Province in southwest China, the reserve cares for nearly 20 percent of the world's remaining 1,500 giant pandas¹ while serving as the site for conducting daily research on panda breeding and bamboo ecology.

Prior to the new technology infrastructure, communication in and around the reserve was limited to some cellular access, and dial-up access in the nursing area. Often the most efficient method for moving data was walking a floppy disk hundreds of yards across the reserve, or driving it several kilometers to a waiting researcher. As a result, research teams relied on paper notebooks to chart vital statistics on each infant's health and growth and had limited access to file details in the field.

Over the past few months, Intel worked closely with Wolong to deploy the campus-wide communications network that includes an 802.11b wireless LAN network. The network allows Wolong researchers greater access to data, such as a video monitoring system using five cameras so researchers can more effectively observe the pandas' activities around the clock and share data quickly with colleagues around the world.

Veterinary staff can now check the current feeding and health status of newborn baby pandas a kilometer away. In one case, the head veterinarian was able to observe trends in infant panda feeding over a period of a few days, and suggest changes to improve the tiny cubs' survival chances. Original data is now being catalogued instantly after each feeding in the nursery, wirelessly transmitted to the hospital more than 200 meters away, and shared with researchers in other cities throughout China.

"Digital technology has transformed the way we communicate and share information inside Wolong and with the rest of the world," said Zhang Hemin, director of the Wolong Nature Reserve. "By teaming up with Intel, our researchers now have state-of-the-art digital technology to help foster the panda population and manage our precious surroundings."

Bridging the World's Cultures with Digital Technology
As part of the Wolong initiative, Intel worked closely with GLOBIO to create the GLOBIO and Intel Children's Learning Lab (CLL) within the Wolong Giant Panda Museum of China. Intel unwired the CLL and donated Intel Centrino mobile technology-based laptops, which will be used by local teachers and students from Wolong's Sha Wan and Geng Da Central Primary Schools.

Unwiring Wolong has also created a cross-cultural education opportunity for children around the world. Intel and GLOBIO have created a sister learning lab at Woodstock Elementary School in Portland, Ore. Woodstock hosts a Chinese immersion program for local children, making the connection even more valuable.

Using GLOBIO's online education platform, students from China's Sha Wan and Oregon's Woodstock elementary schools will interact with each other while learning about the diversity of their respective local environments. For example, Sha Wan students will use the CLL to study giant pandas and their habitat, while Woodstock students will learn about the American bald eagle. The technology infrastructure will provide children with a unique opportunity to explore and exchange respective information about resource sustainability and biodiversity, while encouraging dialog with peers, both locally and internationally.

Intel's Commitment to Biodiversity
Intel has worked on many initiatives around the world that support the understanding and protection of the planet's biodiversity. Recognizing the critical role education plays in fulfilling our mission to protect the diversity of life on earth, Intel joined with The Nature Conservancy to create 90 online profiles of high-priority conservation projects that span 28 countries and the entire United States. In addition, Intel supported the development of a network of scientists and institutions to monitor trends in biodiversity hotspots. This monitoring project is part of a larger initiative by Conservation International and other organizations, together with Intel, to use computer and Internet technology to advance conservation science and biodiversity field work worldwide. For more information on Intel's commitment to biodiversity, please visit www.intel.com/go/responsibility.

About Intel Corporation
Intel, the world's largest chip maker, is also a leading manufacturer of computer, networking and communications products. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom.

About GLOBIO
GLOBIO is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to giving children a voice in the future. GLOBIO is building an online community focused on children discovering the diversity of life. Its work ensures that children around the world will be better prepared to make choices about how to protect and manage the natural resources on which their quality of life and their local economies depend. For more information about GLOBIO, or to make a donation to Wolong Nature Reserve, visit www.globio.org.

About Wolong Nature Reserve
The Wolong Nature Reserve, located about 1,000 miles southwest of Beijing, was created in 1963 and is one of the last strongholds of the critically endangered giant panda. The China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda, deep in the heart of the reserve, currently cares for more than 80 captive pandas, including more than 30 cubs born in the past four years. It is the home of giant pandas now on loan in San Diego, Washington D.C., Japan, Austria and Thailand.

Intel and Intel Centrino are marks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.

The GLOBIO trademark is a registered trademark of the Foundation for Global Biodiversity Education for Children, Inc. in the United States and other countries.

*Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

1 Courtesy of GLOBIO.

Note: Important Information: + Wireless connectivity and some features may require you to purchase additional software, services or external hardware. Availability of public wireless LAN access points limited and some hotspots may not support Linux-based Intel Centrino mobile technology systems. System performance measured by MobileMark* 2002. System performance, battery life, wireless performance and functionality will vary depending on your specific operating system, hardware and software configurations. See www.intel.com/products/centrino/more_info for more information.

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