China trains rats to detect bombs

Chinese scientists introduced methods of detecting opium and explosives by using trained mice.

Train mice to detect bombs

Ma Yuanye, a neuroscientist at the Institute of Public Zoology, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said he and his research team only needed five days to train mice to respond to different odds , at a rate. 98% accurate.

Mice can search and detect explosives or opium in places where movement is restricted to sniffing dogs or difficult to install machines.

In the experiment, mice were placed in separate compartments in a small box, before the odors were emitted inside. If a mouse touches the sensor to alert the appearance of strange compounds, it will receive rewards. Conversely, if the signal is wrong, the reward will be reduced or lost completely.

The responses are transmitted from the sensor to a computer. To increase accuracy, the computer draws conclusions from the results of the analysis of all five mice. According to Shanghaiist, false warnings are quite rare.

"This is a completely automated process. Human intervention in mouse training will become a milestone," Ma said in a report published in Scientific Reports.

The expert team believes that a system of mice or opium detection is cheap and saves training time , so it is more effective than sniffing dogs or bulky machines. It can be used indoors or externally, in almost any area where strange chemical compounds should be detected.