.. and I thought the brightest minds in this country were hard at work on the really important stuff like stem cell research, HIV, fuel cells, etc.  Nope, try "petworking".  Huh?  Had to pass this story along from Wired.

Collar Cultivates Canine Cliques

If you’ve ever longed for a way to monitor your dog’s social life, map out its buddy network and sense who its true friends really are, you might have been waiting for SNIF.

The Social Networking in Fur, or SNIF, project is a wearable computer system for dogs that allows their owners to monitor the animals’ behavior and capture their social networks.

The technology, designed by a group of researchers at MIT’s Physical Language Workshop, also gives dog owners the chance to "petwork," or network through their pets.

Link to the whole story.