Sniffer rats to find African mines

[Czar]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3123119.stm

A new weapon is being developed in the battle against the millions of unexploded landmines that kill innocent children and adults around the world - the African pouched rat.
Cheap, intelligent and, crucially, lightweight, rats are being trained in Tanzania to sniff out landmines and explosives.

Their trainers at Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania say that for the reward of a bit of banana the rats can do a much better job than dogs.

"They are more mechanical than a dog and they are easier to transfer to different owners," the Belgian coordinator of the project, Christophe Cox, told BBC News Online.

When working the rats are harnessed and hitched to a sliding rail mounted on a metal grid.

Two human handlers roll the grid over a suspected minefield.

very cool

 

[Alistar7]

gotta love the BBC, public broadcasting at it's finest caliber of integrity of impartiality

 

[Czar]

Originally posted by: Alistar7
gotta love the BBC, public broadcasting at it's finest caliber of integrity of impartiality

troll?

 

[Alistar7]

nope, plenty of controversy over the BBC and their bias, most of it coming from within the UK too, remember they are a PUBLIC broadcasting company....

 

[Czar]

yeah, troll

 

[Alistar7]

yeah troll, what a great response. Do a search here, I have linked many prominent British politicians who have publicly criticized the BBC over obvious bias. They also had 4 employees make the same claim. They also recieved over 400 calls with complaints of anti-US bias from UK residents, the most in BBC history.


my heat is under alistar7, i am hardly a troll, I have PROVEN my inegrity time and time again on this forum....

 

[Czar]

your insight on the news story is amazing, expecialy how far you can see into this issue

 

[Tab]

Originally posted by: Alistar7
yeah troll, what a great response. Do a search here, I have linked many prominent British politicians who have publicly criticized the BBC over obvious bias. They also had 4 employees make the same claim. They also recieved over 400 calls with complaints of anti-US bias from UK residents, the most in BBC history.


my heat is under alistar7, i am hardly a troll, I have PROVEN my inegrity time and time again on this forum....

I support Alistar7 and yes he is right about the BBC. Not sure why he said it about this story.

 

[Alistar7]

Originally posted by: Czar

your insight on the news story is amazing, expecialy how far you can see into this issue

what is there to say about this story, it's cool and all but hardly provocates deep thought.....

I would have enjoyed some video footage of this in action, much more entertaining. Will Saddan funnel money to the families of those mice who die in the struggle to rid Africa of land mines?

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: Alistar7

Originally posted by: Czar

your insight on the news story is amazing, expecialy how far you can see into this issue

what is there to say about this story, it's cool and all but hardly provocates deep thought.....

I would have enjoyed some video footage of this in action, much more entertaining. Will Saddan funnel money to the families of those mice who die in the struggle to rid Africa of land mines?

Mention BBC, France, or Germany, Alistar will find something to rant about. Your posts don't "provocate deep thought", this story is about landmine sniffing rats, how provocative could that be?

 

[Alistar7]

that was my point, what did he expect, some huge intellectual or moral debate. I really dont care about Germany, france is nothing more than a nuisance but they are dirtbags for their dealings and deserve to be called to account.

The BBC has it's own problems without my personal opinion, which is based more on what the people of the UK think about than anything.

 

[Czar]

Originally posted by: Alistar7
that was my point, what did he expect, some huge intellectual or moral debate. I really dont care about Germany, france is nothing more than a nuisance but they are dirtbags for their dealings and deserve to be called to account.

The BBC has it's own problems without my personal opinion, which is based more on what the people of the UK think about than anything.

guess you missed the poll few weeks ago, the people in the UK trust the BBC more than they trust Blair

 

[AvesPKS]

Uhhh...if they're so cheap and intelligent, why don't they just strap weights to them and let them run loose on suspected minefields? That way, there's no need to sniff them out...they can do the exploding in one fell swoop! Like training dolphins to run into mines with magnets instead of just finding them.

 

[freegeeks]

Originally posted by: Alistar7
yeah troll, what a great response. Do a search here, I have linked many prominent British politicians who have publicly criticized the BBC over obvious bias. They also had 4 employees make the same claim. They also recieved over 400 calls with complaints of anti-US bias from UK residents, the most in BBC history.


my heat is under alistar7, i am hardly a troll, I have PROVEN my inegrity time and time again on this forum....

integrity????

the rat mentioned in the article has more integrity then you will ever have. In fact, a nice example of your integrity is clearly demonstrated in my sigh. You are a NAZI troll and nothing more

 

[Nitemare]

Originally posted by: Czar

Originally posted by: Alistar7
that was my point, what did he expect, some huge intellectual or moral debate. I really dont care about Germany, france is nothing more than a nuisance but they are dirtbags for their dealings and deserve to be called to account.

The BBC has it's own problems without my personal opinion, which is based more on what the people of the UK think about than anything.

guess you missed the poll few weeks ago, the people in the UK trust the BBC more than they trust Blair

Blair is not on the air 24/7 criticizing the BBC now is he?

 

[freegeeks]

Originally posted by: Nitemare

Originally posted by: Czar

Originally posted by: Alistar7
that was my point, what did he expect, some huge intellectual or moral debate. I really dont care about Germany, france is nothing more than a nuisance but they are dirtbags for their dealings and deserve to be called to account.

The BBC has it's own problems without my personal opinion, which is based more on what the people of the UK think about than anything.

guess you missed the poll few weeks ago, the people in the UK trust the BBC more than they trust Blair

Blair is not on the air 24/7 criticizing the BBC now is he?

nor is the BBC, I can find plenty of stories on their site that has nothing to do with the Iraq-Blair thing.

 

[charrison]

Originally posted by: Czar
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3123119.stm

A new weapon is being developed in the battle against the millions of unexploded landmines that kill innocent children and adults around the world - the African pouched rat.
Cheap, intelligent and, crucially, lightweight, rats are being trained in Tanzania to sniff out landmines and explosives.

Their trainers at Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania say that for the reward of a bit of banana the rats can do a much better job than dogs.

"They are more mechanical than a dog and they are easier to transfer to different owners," the Belgian coordinator of the project, Christophe Cox, told BBC News Online.

When working the rats are harnessed and hitched to a sliding rail mounted on a metal grid.

Two human handlers roll the grid over a suspected minefield.

very cool

And no one cares if a rat gets blown to bits.

 

[Nitemare]

Originally posted by: freegeeks

Originally posted by: Nitemare

Originally posted by: Czar

Originally posted by: Alistar7
that was my point, what did he expect, some huge intellectual or moral debate. I really dont care about Germany, france is nothing more than a nuisance but they are dirtbags for their dealings and deserve to be called to account.

The BBC has it's own problems without my personal opinion, which is based more on what the people of the UK think about than anything.

guess you missed the poll few weeks ago, the people in the UK trust the BBC more than they trust Blair

Blair is not on the air 24/7 criticizing the BBC now is he?

nor is the BBC, I can find plenty of stories on their site that has nothing to do with the Iraq-Blair thing.

23/7?

 

[BarneyFife]

Originally posted by: Alistar7
gotta love the BBC, public broadcasting at it's finest caliber of integrity of impartiality

Quit hijacking threads, you troll.

 

[tnitsuj]

Originally posted by: AvesPKS
Uhhh...if they're so cheap and intelligent, why don't they just strap weights to them and let them run loose on suspected minefields? That way, there's no need to sniff them out...they can do the exploding in one fell swoop! Like training dolphins to run into mines with magnets instead of just finding them.

1. you would have to detonate the mines all willy nilly.

2. you would need a huge supply of trained rats.

 

[AvesPKS]

Originally posted by: tnitsuj

Originally posted by: AvesPKS
Uhhh...if they're so cheap and intelligent, why don't they just strap weights to them and let them run loose on suspected minefields? That way, there's no need to sniff them out...they can do the exploding in one fell swoop! Like training dolphins to run into mines with magnets instead of just finding them.

1. you would have to detonate the mines all willy nilly.

2. you would need a huge supply of trained rats.

They're cheap and intelligent; I'm sure that PETA wouldn't complain about us using them as living minesweepers. Or, just toss them like hand grenades onto the battlefield.

 

[Nitemare]

Originally posted by: BarneyFife

Originally posted by: Alistar7
gotta love the BBC, public broadcasting at it's finest caliber of integrity of impartiality

Quit hijacking threads, you troll.

Quit taking joy in Americans dieing, Ftard

 

[ElFenix]

wonder how long it takes to train a rat?

The rats are put through their paces on minefield at the university campus.

that statement strikes me as funny in a sick way