The US Forest Service has commercial contracts
for a fleet of 300 helicopters and more than
50 fixed-wing aeroplanes, which dump 40 million
litres of fire-retardant sludge onto forest fires
each year. But, surprisingly, there isn’t very good
evidence that it works. A 2011 study found
no correlation between the use of fire retardant
and fire-fighting success rates. Once a wildfire
is raging, airdrops seem to be more about
public relations than effective firefighting. LV
How effective are
planes in fighting
wildfires?
PHOTO: GETTYWHAT CONNECTS......RATS AND
LANDMINES?
1
The giant
pouched rat is
a large African
rodent, only distantly
related to true rats.
They can weigh up to
1.5kg and measure 45cm
from nose to tail.Giant pouched rats
are omnivorous, but
they are particularly
keen on bananas.
They are also highly
intelligent and can
easily be tamed using
a clicker, which they learn
to associate with banana treats.3
They are much more than
just pets though, because
they can smell explosives at
very low concentrations. A
Belgian NGO has so far
trained more than 280 rats
to sniff out TNT.4
The rats are used
to detect landmines
in Mozambique,
Cambodia and
Angola. A single rat
can check 200sqm
in 20 minutes –
something that would
take a human four
days to do!