Flower used to find land mines

[Mr. Anderson]

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/01/28/arms.denmark.landmines.reut/index.html

Given the problem that landmines pose to many people, this could be a huge help in cleaning them up. And since it takes so long to grow, 3 to 6 weeks, its not a military counter measure. Great stuff.

D

 

[alset]

This is pretty exciting. But what other causes for N02 would appear in the soil and give a false positive? I'm afraid I don't really know my chemistry enough to judge how useful this is.

On a side note, I wonder how long it will take to enhance the weed so that it matures within several days....? Bamboo shoots grow at a rate of six inches a day, I believe. That sort of rapid growth would make this weed an immediate success (assuming accuracy) .

Dan

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

This sounds promising since landmines are not just a military problem (who has the resources to find them in battle); but for the civilian population after the military leaves.

Maybe G. W. Bush could spend some money to help accelerate this program.

 

[Raid]

If these things work they could be a great help and save many lives, but the rapid growth rate worries me. Have they also removed the ability for this plant to reproduce on it's own? Imagine sowing an area to check for mines one day and then 6 weeks later the surrounding area has these weeds all over the place.

Let's just hope they aren't considering using defoliants like agent orange to clear them out once they've done their job. The point of finding the mines would be to make the area inhabitable once again and these kinds of poisons wouldn't help in that regard.

 

[wdlove]

Princess Diana would be very pleased with this development. If the this so called becomes useful, then is it indeed still a weed. One caution what will be the side effects of this weed?

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

Originally posted by Raid
If these things work they could be a great help and save many lives, but the rapid growth rate worries me. Have they also removed the ability for this plant to reproduce on it's own? Imagine sowing an area to check for mines one day and then 6 weeks later the surrounding area has these weeds all over the place.

Let's just hope they aren't considering using defoliants like agent orange to clear them out once they've done their job. The point of finding the mines would be to make the area inhabitable once again and these kinds of poisons wouldn't help in that regard.

I am not sure which would be worst....