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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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US: Sniffer rats stand up to smuggling
John Whitfield Nature
Tuesday 11 Jun 2002 Computers train and monitor animal detectives. Computers could one day train squads of animals to detect smuggled drugs or explosives, and then monitor their performance as they go about their jobs, say US researchers1. Computer scientist James Otto, of the University of Baltimore, and his colleagues teach rats to rear up on their hind legs when they smell a cocaine mimic in the lab. A motion sensor on the rat detects this, and alerts a computer to the rat's location. A food dispenser linked to the motion sensor automates the training. By hiding the chemical with food, the researchers teach rats to associate finding the contraband with a treat. Then they begin dropping food from above, making the rats stand up. After 2-3 weeks' training in the lab, the smell of cocaine alone makes the rats stand upright more than 90% of the time. Sniffer rats have several potential advantages over dogs. They instinctively nose around new terrain, they can reach places dogs' can't, are cheaper, smaller, and many cultures see them as more expendable. But since their working life is only a year, training them has to be quick and cheap. Now the team, funded by the US Defense Department, plans to put their computer-trained rats through their paces in a more realistic environment such as an outdoor arena. Otto has no takers for his rodent investigators so far: "We're talking to a number of agencies, but there haven't been any strong bites." Automated training could be extended to dogs, Otto suggests, to reduce the dependence on expert human trainers. "It takes a long time to train any animal. If you could automate that you could train larger numbers." To put a computer in charge of dog training would be "a bit of a stretch" comments canine-detection specialist Paul Waggoner of Auburn University, Alabama. But he agrees that some situations - particularly minefield clearance - might be more suited to rats than dogs. Projects to train African pouched rats to detect mines are already underway in Angola and Tanzania. References Otto, J., Brown, M. F. & Long, W. III Training rats to search and alert on contraband odors. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 77, 217 - 232, (2002).
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