back to article Boffins trial cheap landmine sniff-tech

American boffins reckon they may have found a way to build landmine-detecting equipment more cheaply, possibly offering hope to dispossessed people in warzones around the world. Landmines are cheap to make and easy to lay. Once laid, they are difficult and dangerous to clear up: so much so that minefields often become …

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  1. M

    Is that like the massachusetts institute of technology?

    You know how they apprev. massachusetts institute of technology??

    Does that mean that this land (mine) mark technology has been produced by "Gregg Larson and James Martin of the Georgia Institute of Technology (GIT)"?? >80)

    Sorry.... its the kinda day when very small things are needed to keep me amused

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Mines...

    ...an easy lay (snigger snigger)

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    A use for John Prescott

    I say we give Two Jags Prescott a set of lead boots and send him off to march round all those farms abandoned thanks to British manufactured landmines (and cluster bombs, changing the name does not change the problem). His clomping around can provide the 'low frequency vibration' for the system. Tony Bliar and Lord Golddigga can go and help him too, then we can see how keen future policiticians are to support the arms trade from this country.

    Of course those poor sods from MIT would have to turn their headphones off otherwise they would risk accidentally listening to John Prescott and that would be serious injury...

    More seriously though, anything that helps clean up landmines and stop them killing more innocent locals is a darn fine plan.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Vermin?

    I always thought a bag of big rats could solve two problems...

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Morocco has an even cheaper method of clearing mine fields

    Monkeys.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A21268-2003Mar24?language=printer

  6. Chris Goodchild

    The Somme

    In France to this day they are still using sheep grazing on the battlefields of the Somme to `neutralise´the old left over ordanance from the 1ST World War, it is not unknown to have your lamb chops butchered and cooked in about one tenth of a second there.

    The line about èasily laid and often diffcult and dangrous to get rid of reminds me of one or two exes.

  7. Morely Dotes

    Monkeys, Mines, and Mental Midgets

    "Morocco has offered 2,000 monkeys to help detonate land mines.

    An official at the Moroccan Embassy could not confirm the presence of monkeys in the coalition of the willing. "

    Clearly, the White House should accept Morocco's generous offer. After all, if one chimp in the Administration is good, it should be blindingly obvious that an additional 2,000 monkeys would be better.

  8. Jon Tocker

    @Morely Dotes

    But can't you see, US-gov would be rightfully concerned that the monkeys would out-think their Oval Office Seat Warmer and overthrow the government...

  9. the Jim bloke

    monkeys too dangerous

    Using specially imported animals for mine clearance runs the risk of spreading disease and damaging export industries.

    Africa is pretty much a festering disease ridden pest hole anyway, so it doesnt matter what you send in to there, but you would want to ensure that none of your monkeys came out, to be sent to mine clearing areas in other parts of the globe.

    Quarantine provisions would impose serious delays on moving the beasties around, making them less attractive than a piece of mechanical equipment which can be soaked in a tub of bleach for a few days then used freely.

    Remember, Human life is cheap, and Profits are important.

  10. Tim Croydon

    Cheap sensors?

    Hmmmm. Surely the acoustic sensor part (i.e. the microphone) would be relatively cheap in any system. The expensive part would be the processing system and software to correlate and filter the input. Or am I missing something?

  11. JP

    What happened to Flower Power?

    The funny Cress that turned red when near mines:

    http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2004/01/62066

    I thought l Reg covered this one too...

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    But why....

    Are the Farmers/landowners being asked to pick up the tab?? 9/10 the farmers didn't ask for the mines to be laid, the offending army should pick up the tab.

    Must dash, otherwise i'll miss my ship back to Utopia

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Exploding Monkeys

    So 2000 monkeys all being blown to bits so a farmer can grow some banana's to feed other poor monkeys awaiting certain death! That sounds like a Reality TV show! might as well get corporate sponsorship and make a bit of cash on the side then the farmers can buy some expensive equipment to sort out their mates. Not sure it's entirely ethical though and i'm sure PETA might kick up.

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