The MouSensor is a lab mouse genetically-engineered to sniff out land mines. Mice have already been trained to find explosives by scent but according to Hunter College biologist Charlotte D'Hulst, the MouSensor is ultra sensitive to the odor of TNT. From The Guardian:

Given its extreme sensitivity to TNT, the mouse would probably have some sort of seizure when it sniffed explosives, said D'Hulst, because so many neurons in its olfactory bulb would be firing at once. And that seizure might be detectable by some device implanted into the mouse.

"We are thinking along the lines of implanting a chip under the skin of these animals that would wirelessly report back to a computer when the animal's behaviour is changing upon being triggered by a TNT landmine," said D'Hulst. Once the location of a landmine had been identified, a bomb-disposal expert could go in and neutralise it in the normal way. The mouse itself would be safe from the landmine, since it would be too small to trigger an explosion.

"GM mouse created to detect landmines"]]> http://boingboing.net/2012/10/18/genetically-modified-mouse-to.html/feed 11 http://boingboing.net/2011/02/25/etching-a-mural-into.html http://boingboing.net/2011/02/25/etching-a-mural-into.html#comments Thu, 24 Feb 2011 20:25:52 +0000 Cory Doctorow

Aleandre Farto's explosive etching technique involves precision detonation of plaster and brick to make enormous, smoky murals. This video, with music by Orelha Negra, demonstrates the technique.

Orelha Negra - M.I.R.I.A.M. X Vhils (Thanks, JonGilbert via Submitterator!)

In the interests of science, the presenter from the BBC's "How We Shook the World" hits a droplet of nitro with a hammer, over and over again, in slow motion. I am enscienced!

Nitroglycerine Detonation Filmed in Slo-Mo - Explosions: How We Shook the World, Preview - BBC Four (Thanks, Freeal, via Submitterator)