Worms that create wormholes - can we find and track them underground?

In a future Earth it has been discovered that earthworms can actually create wormholes.

There is a lot more to this and I will be asking other questions, however at this point I just want to know if worms can be detected and tracked underground by any means.

For example they could have a miniature radio transmitter or a radio-active material implanted.

Question

My story will require that volunteers around the world search for and detect tagged worms that may reappear anywhere after being released and then going through a wormhole.

I don't know if a radio signal from a tiny, low-power transmitter can travel through damp earth or how far.

The scientific question is: Could electronic means be used to find and then track electronically-tagged worms underground and if so how far underground and from how far away (for example from a helicopter that was searching over a wide area)?

Note

Some lumbricus terrestris can do this. We tag individuals with a transmitter and release them at a known location inside a worm-proof box. They disappear from the box (and we know when they disappear because their signal disappears) but we don't know where they will re-appear - maybe hundreds of miles away. That's why we need to detect them underground at their destination. There will be volunteers everywhere who are searching for them with receivers. When they detect a worm's approximate 'landing' point (it will be underground), they email us with its radio signature. This way we can track their wormhole travels.

To avoid people cheating (and probably boasting on YouTube they have found a worm) thus messing up our records, they are asked to mail them back to us at our expense.

posted almost 6 years ago

chasly from UK‭

4 reputation 69 0 0 0