I'll never look at Rats the same way again
Throughout the world, places that have been involved in war and/or civil strife often
have large minefields that still need clearing. In 2013, it was estimated that there was
a global average of around nine mine-related deaths every day.
The situation is especially dire in Africa.
Typically, clearing a minefield involves men in body armor walking in very precise
lines with metal detectors. Anything (from a rusty nail to an old ammo cartridge)
that sets the detectors off must be investigated before moving on. A new method
of bomb detection using rats, however, is flipping this process on its head.
A Belgian NCO called APOPO has developed a way to train African pouched rats
(named for the storage pouch in their cheeks) to sniff out bombs quickly and safely.
They used this rat because it has an incredibly fine-tuned sense of smell and a
long lifespan (8-9 years) to yield returns on the nine months of training they undergo.
They're called Hero Rats, and NOT ONE has died in the line of duty since the program
started in 1997.
The average mine requires 5 kg (roughly 11 pounds) of weight to trigger an explosion,
but even the biggest of these rats are only around 1.5 kg (3.3 pounds).
Since they're trained to sniff out explosives exclusively, they aren't distracted by
other metal objects the way human minesweepers are.
They can effectively search 200 square meters in less than 20 minutes.
A team of humans would need around 25 hours to do the same job.
Since they're in the African sun a lot, the Hero Rats get sunscreen to keep them cancer free.
If a rat does get cancer, it receives full medical treatment.
The rats are "paid" in avocados, peanuts, bananas and other healthy treats.
After about 4-5 years on the job (or whenever they lose interest in working),
they're allowed to retire.
Retirement consists of eating all the tasty fruit their little hero's heart desires.
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Germany's Muslim Demographic Future
by Soeren Kern • February 8, 2017 at 5:00 am- Critics of Germany's open-door immigration policy are warning that the recent surge in Germany's Muslim population — which surpassed six million in 2016 for the first time — has already changed the face of the country forever.
- The price for reversing Germany's demographic decline appears to be the further Islamization of Germany under the guise of multiculturalism.
- With a fertility rate of 1.6 births per woman, well below the replacement rate of 2.1, Germany will require a permanent influx of 300,000 migrants per year in order keep the current population level stable through the year 2060, according to the report.
- "We are importing Islamic extremism, Arab anti-Semitism, national and ethnic conflicts of other peoples, as well as a different understanding of society and law. German security agencies are unable to deal with these imported security problems, and the resulting reactions from the German population." — Leaked German intelligence document.
- More than a decade ago historian Bernard Lewis warned that if current migration trends continue, Europe will be Islamic by the end of the 21st century. Germany's political elites are at the vanguard of making that prediction come true.
Out with the old, in with the new...
Germany will need to take in 300,000 migrants annually for the next 40 years to stop population decline, according to a leaked government report.
The document, parts of which were published by the Rheinische Post on February 1, reveals that the German government is counting on permanent mass migration — presumably from Africa, Asia and the Middle East — to keep the current size of the German population (82.8 million) stable through 2060.
The report implies that Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to allow into the country some 1.5 million mostly Muslim migrants between 2015 and 2016 was not primarily a humanitarian gesture, but a calculated effort to stave off Germany's demographic decline and to preserve the future viability of the German welfare state.