Rodents are able to produce a narrow squeak when they sniff out landmines. Besides they are so light, that they could be used to detect mines without setting them off.
Researchers in the US are modifying the creatures’ genes to make them super-sensitive to the smell of explosives such as TNT. Rodents would be monitored with microchips and transmitters to enable them to be tracked from a safe distance. The idea follows the success of a Belgian project in which giant African rats were trained to locate explosives then sit beside them making clicking sounds. Tests revealed that two rats could clear a field almost twice the size of a two tennis court in two hours – a task that would take two humans two days. But while the rats take nine months to train, scientists are confident they can genetically programme mice to be ready for action from birth. Source: Voice of Russia
