Trained Rats Map Minefields With GPS 103
An anonymous reader writes "Believe it or not, but the Department of Defense is paying psychologists to train rats to find mines and circle around them. By attaching little GPS backpacks and supplying a laptop with software that looks for the 'circling around' signature, the DOD hopes its project will allow the release of platoons of rats near suspected minefields so that the laptop software creates a detailed map of where all the mines are located automatically. Not sure if they plan on picking up the rats afterward, but they do assure us that the rats are too lightweight to set off the mines!"
Re:Boom (Score:2, Insightful)
Hmm, today must be get-under-my-skin day for trolls. Ah well.
Poverty is a slippery thing - if you can barely afford to feed yourself with a minimum wage job it's not because you're poor, in fact you're far wealthier than most people in the world; it's because you prioritize other things above eating. Working 40hours/week at $7/hour you're making $1120k/month, even if you assume you lose half that in taxes and deductions that's still $560 per month. In most places in the US you can find at *least* a tiny studio apartment in a non-shithole neighborhood for under $300, and that probably includes at least water/sewer fees. By forgoing fast food and shopping intelligently one person can feed themselves pretty well on $100/month, $200 can be stretched to feed a family of four, though they'll likely be eating a lot of beans and rice. That leaves $60+/month for things like phone, gas, electricity, clothing, transportation, etc. It's not easy, but it can be done. And that gets you a family of four adequately provided for. A single parent with three kids is going to have a hard time of it, but a couple with two kids can get by alright, and a second adult increases the family's wealth-generating capacity significantly.
And if you're in one of the few places where rent is too high to pull it off, leave. Get some roommates in a similar situation, live simply while you build up some savings, and then get the hell out.
Re:Boom (Score:5, Insightful)
"In most places in the US you can find at *least* a tiny studio apartment in a non-shithole neighborhood for under $300", et cetera.
I don't know where you live or what your latest explorations into rentals have shown you. I live in a small (50-55k) city in the Midwest and pay $473 for ~ 145 sq. ft. apartment partitioned from a house built in the 1880s in a decidedly non-genteel block near "downtown" where I have walking access to food. In local terms, I've got a good deal - an "affordable" price (about 2/3 of my Social Security), decent landlord, heat and electric included, nearby "amenities."
Please show me your menu for one for a month on $100. Nothing wrong with beans and rice, and the local mercado has good prices on chicken and veggies. My food stamps allow about $6.50/day, so it's doable, but I'd still like to see your menu based on half that.
Where will I put paying roommates, presuming such can be found? Fuck, my usable living area is comparable to a jail cell. I hope that I can save enough in a year buy the stuff to loft the bed so's to have room for the computer table and a chair and a lamp. How long at what savings per month to move to a cheaper location? Chances are I'll be long dead ere then.
Many things can theoretically be done. If you've got superior info and know-how, I'd be happy to be the recipient. My willingness and ability, medical matters aside, to deal with what level of stinting to get to greener grass whilst still alive, and, one hopes, the ability to enjoy such, is open for consideration. YMMV.