Rat That Sniffs Out Land Mines Receives Award for Bravery

Mildly related, but domestic rats make really great pets, especially if you live in an apartment. They're a lot less work to take care of than a cat/dog, but also startlingly intelligent, curious, and social.

- very little odor compared to 'musky' animals like ferrets, especially if you get females.

- smart enough and social enough to recognize their owners, explore around, learn tricks. They can even be leash trained (although I wouldn't recommend taking them outside).

- if you get them from a reputable breeder that screens for aggression, they're incredibly gentle, which makes them a lot safer around kids than a typical cat would be.

There are a few downsides, the biggest one being that they only live 2-5 years, and they do require some research and prep. It's really easy to be irresponsible and give them a miserable life, which stinks for any pocket pet, but especially for rats because they're so intelligent.

But if you want a social, 'interactive' pet but are worried that you wouldn't be able to handle a dog, I'm hard-pressed to come up with another animal I would recommend more.

> “Magawa’s dedication, skill and bravery are an extraordinary example of this and deserve the highest possible recognition,” Ms. McLoughlin said.

It is funny because the little animal probably has no idea what it is doing and does not care for anything but its lunch.

Perhaps organic RC systems and training will get better faster in the short term as we get new tech than robotic control systems. I don't see it as likely, but imagining a future where instead of robots we have living organisms that are practically robots is fascinating. After all, ape limbs and hands are far more dexterous than the robotic systems we've built to mimic them. The only problem is control - but perhaps we will learn brain control and training in the brain faster than we will make robotic hands that are as resilient and adaptable as living ones.

Quote: "When he is not in the minefield, the two-foot-long rat ..."

That's not a rat, that's a monster-rat :).

Bravery doesn't apply when you don't have a choice.

I wonder whether the rat gives a rat's ass about the award.

This same non-profit, the APOPO, also trains these rats to detect tuberculosis. Apparently the laboratory testing in Tanzania produces a lot of false negatives, and the rats can screen the same number of samples it takes a lab tech an entire day to test. They use the rats to double check the lab tests and identify samples to be re-tested.[1]

[1]https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/8/140816-rats-t...

The makers of land mines should be forced to pay for each land mine removed

More accurate and costs way less than a 75K Boston Dynamics dog.

Congrats to Magawa! He and his handler are doing great work. The amount of success both of them have achieved is amazing. Wishing them both continued safety.

If I understand correctly, the rats smell TNT? What are the problems in building artificial TNT detectors working like the olfactory systems of animals?

Lol, the rat hasn’t a choice. More like sympathy award. Bravery is pressing forward in the face of fear.

Paywalled

Rat singled out for bravery, for doing thing he was trained to do, which admittedly isn’t dangerous to him at all.

Weird definition of brave.