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Rescue Rats to Find Buried Victims

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the cheesy-search-crews dept.

adaminnj writes "Rats are being trained to sniff out the buried victims of earthquakes and bomb blasts and could be sent to search for survivors in the same way as dogs. The idea of being rescued by a rat may not appeal to many people, but they have the advantage of being able to crawl almost anywhere and slip through small holes and crevices. Like dogs, they also have a highly acute sense of smell. But to be successful rescuers, they must be able to home in on victims and signal their position to waiting rescue teams."

4 of 183 comments (clear)

  1. Rats running telecom and network cables... by `Sean · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This reminds me of an article that was pinned up in the copy room at Lucent in Allentown a while ago about rats that had been trained to run telecom and network cables through existing ductwork in schools. It was quite a few years ago so I forget the specifics, but it looked rather cool. Google has been unhelpful for the moment, but I'm still searching for more information.

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  2. Rodents in general by stratjakt · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I've heard of stuff like this before.

    I read of a project that was training weasels, or maybe ferrets, something in that family for the same type of thing. They're naturally curious, able to squeeze through unimaginable spots, etc.

    The weasels were big enough to strap a little camera and transmitter to, and the idea was that they'd just go everywhere in the rubble.. Their natural curiosity would handle that part.

    Them biting/eating victims (another natural instinct) was a problem. So the rescue critters would be "de-fanged", or rather have their teeth filed down when it was time to actually go to work. This of course, cripples the animal for the rest of it's life but the logic is "we sacrifice a couple of chinchillas to save one human life and it's worth it".

    Of course, PETA and the like threw a fit. But even "animal lovers" look the other way when it comes to rats.

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  3. The science bit... by Seehund · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I first thought this was something else than what I've been reading about recently, and not just about using yet another trained animal.

    I thought wrong.

    The /. blurb forgot to mention that what's so special is that the rats have electrodes implanted in their brains, which send a signal to the rescuers when the rat has found what it's looking for.

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  4. Re:Interesting... by caldfyr · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Thanks for the laugh :)

    That's a valid question, though. I wonder how they would deal with that. Do you think rats might have a developed enough emotional system to allow a monitor to discern between happiness at a job well done, as compared to, "cheeeeeeeeeese"?

    I have to wonder if we're capable of emulating animal brains and just don't know it yet. It seems to me that we could feasibly create something in a small package, maybe terrier sized (gotta have room for batteries) that uses 400hz power (for efficiency) and instead of a single processor, uses a ton of tiny simple processors with specialized tasks. I'm sure it will take us awhile to create an AI simple and efficient enough to drive that system on a comperable level with a live rat, but an inquisitive bug that relays sensor data while exploring everything around it might be plausible.

    hm... time to head to the patent office