Is it true that elephants find explosives better than dogs?
Mar 22, 2022 07:30 GMT+7
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of the US Department of Defense is said to be investing in training elephants to find explosives.
Accordingly, the idea for elephants to participate in the search for explosives comes from practical experience. When the Angolan civil war in South Africa ended in 2002, large areas were exploited. Experts began to notice that elephants were careful to avoid areas with explosives, and the military became interested in whether the animals could detect landmines or were they simply avoiding areas where the elephants were. Another elephant died? To find out why, the Pentagon granted DARPA a research budget in 2016.
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| Is it true that elephants find explosives better than dogs? (Illustration) |
The test results were promising: the elephants were able to pinpoint which samples contained explosives in 73 out of 74 cases. In the next round of tests, the scientists tried to distract the elephants with the smell of tea and gasoline, but this animal scored even more impressively with 23 out of 23 correct.
As a result, experts concluded elephants could detect explosives accurately. However, the only problem is that these animals are quite large and heavy. To bring them into a war zone is completely impossible, so the military has only two options: bring the elephants to the rescue or try to recreate their abilities.
The first option involves the use of unmanned aerial vehicles that can take a sample of the explosive and immediately deliver it to the elephants for verification. The second option requires in-depth research and involves developing a sensor based on the workings of the elephant’s olfactory system.
In 1958, the 34th President of the United States, Dwight Eisenhower officially founded DARPA with the goal of developing the most advanced technologies to serve the country. Initially, this agency took the name ARPA (without the word Defense) and was seen as the US response to the successful Soviet launch of the artificial satellite Sputnik.
Although part of the Pentagon, DARPA is an independent agency of the Department of Defense research. DARPA employees are divided into small groups led by a manager. Each group will undertake research to solve a specific problem because the group is free to find ideas and organize research to solve the problem. In addition, DARPA also grants grants to other technology companies to carry out projects that the agency considers promising.
Peace (translation summary)
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