Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal: A Weblog

And, farm machinery has been adapted for faster and more efficient landmine clearing. http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/001676.html

OT - my compliments on your new look for the Semi-Daily Journal. I especially appreciate the large type.

Wouldn't truffle pigs be good for this application? And if they set off a mine you'd have bacon.

MaryLou

The large type is terrific, but the color scheme is not as sharp as before. However the main problem is that waiting for a comment to be cleared for posting means stopping work for several minutes. The posts are slow to register, and then slower to appear. The format before, when it was working smoothly, did not tie up a poster and conversations could be followed. But, large type is essential.

"Added bonus: the rats can detect tuberculosis from sputum samples!!"

Well, that's just great! But can they tell anyone?

The picture is slightly misleading -- that is not a sci-fi human-sized rat. According to the Rat and Mouse Gazette (no, I'm not kidding) they weigh up to four pounds and live for seven years. Judging by the story, if you like ordinary Norway rats, you'll LOVE giant pouched rats. They're a special breed (rat-lovers, I mean).

Rat and Mouse Gazette: Giant Pouched Rats

http://www.rmca.org/Articles/giant.htm

I first saw this story on the Discovery Channel, then on National Geographic.. This animals were awesome and adoriable. Yes, I love nerd tv.

What upsets me is that the Fundies have a new cause. Ala-Carte Cable. The idea is that you will pay for only the channels you want. Sounds great. The problem is that it will allow the Fundies to demand packages of channels approved by their leaders. No mind polution for fundie households. Channels as supposedly innocent and family orriented as the Discovery Channel could be dropped off the approved list because it frequently devotes shows on evolutionary theory. If the Discovery Channel was at risk of losing revenue to please fundie would it feel pressured to bowlderize itself. Or to create such a version of itself. I pray not.

Anyway ala-carte cable seems like a really bad idea for the future of an informed and tolerant America. Nor would a fundie version of the V-Chip be a good idea.

Reminds me of a story I heard on NPR half a year ago about scientists training bees to detect landmines and other explosives. They're probably not as photogenic as the rat, however...

OK, so the huge mine- and TB-sniffing rats are cool, but my money is on the genetically modified Arabidopsis Thaliana:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/science/2004-02-02-cress-mines_x.htm

There are way too many decaying and unstable fields of land mines out there to haul out the trained rats every time.

PS: I hope somebody changes the white-space-formatting conventions for the next iteration of the MT style sheet...

I don't even think they exist.

This is kinda ironic. You post on the botanical methods of detecting land mines, and I respond saying that the african giant pouched rats are better. You install MT 3.12, post on african giant pouched rats, and Jonathan King says that botanical methods are better.

OT: llamajockey, I say let them have their individual cable channels, especially if the alternative is taking it away from everyone. Hopefully, cable companies will continue to offer bundled channels at a discount compared to buying them all seperately.

Is the world yet ready for the Tale of the Giant Pouched Rat of Africa? (As Dr. Watson might ask)

Oh the Rats. Interestingly, Mayor Bloomberg had a rat run across his foot during his inauguration. After that, the Mayor declared War on Rats. The big fear at the GOP convention was a repeat with a rat running over the foot of President Bush. Rumor has it that War on Rat contracts contained a clause that said rat catchers would guarantee that no rats would make an untimely appearance for a presidential photo op. I hope the contracts paid out, handsomely.

A la carte cable? I could get rid of a lot of shitty Jesus marketing channels in a hurry. I could pretty much pare it down to comedy, hbo, whether channel (says whether my car will start, whether I will go skiing or not, etc.)
The rats are cool and all, but they type hella slow.

"Added bonus: the rats can detect tuberculosis from sputum samples!!"

I'll remember to spit on one if I see it.
I usually test positive for TB. (childhood illness)
Wonder how long you have to wait for results.

nterestingly, Mayor Bloomberg had a rat run across his foot during his inauguration. After that, the Mayor declared War on Rats.

Hey .. I have seen cockroaches as big as rats in NYC.
We followed one out for it's constitutional.

Nice picture, but this story is about two years old.

Ah yes, the Nutcracker is going to have his hands full with this new and improved Rat King, the question remains who will do the adaptation and all the cute new songs?