Have you ever wondered about the future of metal detecting? I've been detecting for a few decades now, but I wouldn't say it has changed a lot since I began. I'm sure some of you will disagree with that. It takes a good bit to impress me.
The metal detectors are better today. And there are more detectorists today than there once was. A lot of targets have been removed, but here is continual replacement. Whether there is less or more to find out there today, I can't say, but there have been changes of type. Some of the accumulated coins of early days have been removed and coins in general are less used today.
I'd say the biggest difference is the vast amount and ease of accessing information today. There is so much information out there. In the past, you either had to subscribe to a magazine, buy books or join a club to get a lot of information. And many of the best detectorists of past decades were very secretive. You might never see them. And they'd often provide disinformation unless you were an especially trusted friend.
One of the unintended consequences of metal detecting being more public is the increase in laws against it. There can be benefits to flying under the radar.
Before you try to project to the future, you might first look at the past and present to identify trends - if there are any. Eventually I hope to give you some far-out possibilities, as well as some changes that you might more expect.
In a very general sense, I don't think metal detecting has changed a lot over the past forty or fifty years. Metal detectors have been around quite a while but weren't used much for treasure hunting until mid-20th century, after which they became common. I bought my first serious detector (a White's) from a Sears catalog. Of course, many of those metal detector companies, such as Whites and Tesoro are now out of business, while some newer metal detector companies have thrived.
I can't deny the advances in metal detector technology, but the basic form and function of treasure hunting metal detectors hasn't changed much. We're still walking around swinging a coil on a rod. The basic scoop has been improved upon, but in my estimation, we're still digging up targets in very much the same way.
For decades I saw metal detector ads saying something like, "See what's in the ground before you dig it." Maybe it's just me but that kind of language made me think of a detailed enough image to be able to say what the item is. We now have data to help us decide what is in the ground, but there is still a lot and I do mean a LOT of uncertainty. It isn't what I think of when I hear about "seeing" something. Maybe I expect way too much, but I thought that was the promise, yet after some decades, the amount of uncertainty about undug objects is still pretty great, and you don't even know how great for the items you don't dig.
Think about way shipwreck salvage is done. One of the most impactful innovations was the blower, and blowers have been around little changed for decades.
SCUBA was the BIG innovation early 1940s although it wasn't patented until 1948. Both SCUBA and metal detector development occurred back during World War II. Seems like it takes the urgency of a war to inspire innovation on that level. Maybe you can point to bigger and more impactful innovations, but those stick out to me.
Of course, before that was the diving bell, leading to manned submersibles, both tethered and untethered, followed by remote controlled submersible drones.
The internet had a large impact even for before and after the hunt, as has AI, which has yet to be largely integrated with detector technology.
It can take a long time for innovations to be refined and widely adopted. I have textbooks on AI published in the 1970s and 1980s, but it wasn't until much more recently that it became widely used. The internet has been widely used by detectorists and treasure hunters for decades now, while AI is being adopted and shows much promise for the future.
In future posts, I'll speculate about future changes that I think are real possibilities.
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Lulu Gribbin was 15 when she survived a shark attack off the coast of Florida. She lost her left hand, part of her right leg and almost her life.
What she didn’t know when she entered the water on that day in 2024 was that another woman had been bitten by a shark 90 minutes earlier and just 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) down the beach. Had she known about the earlier attack, there is no way she would have been swimming, she said.
Gribbin’s story has inspired new federal legislation to authorize emergency alerts to mobile phones to warn beachgoers when a shark has bitten someone in the area...
Here is an interesting article even though it isn't directly on metal detecting. I certainly don't agree with all of it, but I think it is worth consideration.
The legislation, which Gribbin advocated for, authorizes the warnings by classifying a shark attack as an event for which an emergency alert can be issued. It is up to states to implement the warnings.
Here is the source link for that story.
Alabama teen's shark attack inspires national alert system | AP News
By the way, Sharknado has been on TV recently. Amazing what celebrities will do for some cash.
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Here is an interesting article. I don't agree with a lot of it, but it does bring up issues that should be considered.
Humanity has chosen to become idiots: This Brown professor switched to take-hom Ie exams after a mass shooting and discovered mass cheating
It is worth thinking about certain issues no matter whether you are agree with the expressed opinions or not.
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4TH OF JULY AURORA WATCH: Fireworks won't be the only light show this weekend if space weather forecasters are correct. Auroras could appear, too. CMEs are expected to hit Earth on July 3rd and July 5th, sparking consecutive nights of G2-class (Moderate) geomagnetic storms. There's a chance the storms could escalate to category G3 (Strong). If so, auroras would descend to mid-latitudes in the USA and Europe. CME impact alerts: SMS Text.
GIANT SUNSPOT TOO BIG FOR CAMERAS: Sunspot 4478 is so big, astrophotographer Thierry Legault could fit only half of it in his camera's field of view. Even that much is big enough to swallow Earth (insert for scale):
Here is that link.
SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroiHeds
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Can you believe I watched more soccer last week in one hour than I watched the entire rest of my life, and I did it voluntarily! After the world cup I'll probably never watch an entire match again.
I don't like how they fall on the ground and act like they are dying every time they get bumped or kicked in the shin. And I didn't thnk grabbing jersey's was such an important part of soccer.
I find myself rooting for anyone who can score a point. Now I know why a GOOOAAALLL is such a big deal. Scores are so rare, and I'm a person that loves defense in American football.
Anyhow, the World Cup has been kind of fun, but the games are only a small part of it.
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Nothing showing on the NHC Atlantic map.
The upcoming week will have nothing but one foot or less surf along the Treasure Coast.
Good hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
