Slashdot Mirror
Fish Work as Anti-terror Agents
sdriver writes "San Francisco's bluegills went to work about a month ago, guarding the drinking water of more than 1 million people from substances such as cyanide, diesel fuel, mercury and pesticides. "There's no known manmade sensor that can do the same job as the bluegill." The New York City Department of Environmental Protection reported at least one instance in which the system caught a toxin before it made it into the water supply."
The bluegills are just sensors not guards. It's as dumb as saying one of those stupid "dogs" that bimbos like Paris Hiton carry around are guard dogs.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
Using cyanide to poison drinking water for a major city? It would be easy to catch the guys, they'd be the ones dumping the tanker truck full of cyanide.
Plutonium would work much better.
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
It sounds like they're in a seperate tank that is being filled with water from the reservoir prior to purification, since the chlorine and other chemicals used to purify the water would kill the fish pretty quickly. so, 1) It doesn't sound like they're physically in the water source and 2) Even if they were, there's naturally going to be fish in a reservoir anyway, and any of their feces are going to be taken care of during the purification process. So, don't worry about fish poop in your ice water.
No.. eco extremists only care about "cute" animals....
# cat
Damn, my RAM is full of cats. MEOW!!
I'd like to humbly bring to your attention the little known fact that the threat to your water supply hardly comes from terrorism, but rather from industrial toxic spills. The fish are not fighting terrorism but protecting environment (please read the cited case for a good example). I am very sorry, I'm not trying to diminish the heroic efforts of your patriotic fish in anyway, they are still doing an important job. But dear allies, please try to remember that not all the bad things come from abroad in a form of bearded fundamentalist menace.
ISTM that each time "terrorism" is included as a reason to improve public safety, it's just assisting the terrorist agenda by keeping them inthe news and instilling fear where it didn't previously exist.
Better to celebrate the improvements that progress brings, rather than trying to keep everyone cowering in fear with cheap, sensationalist news copy.
politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
Is this some lame attempt to link terorism to the problems cause by the farming and other industry? "Anti-terror" It soubds as if somebody is crying "Wolf" all the time.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
Did anyone else find this line funny ?
... </i>
<i>... hey are no use against other sorts of attacks -- say, the bombing of a water main, or an attack by computer hackers