Minds Clearing Land Mines: Are you as smart as a rat?
July 21, 2011 10 Comments
Hello! We are glad you stopped by to visit our site.
Are you as smart as a rat?
If so, bring your low-tech, innovative ideas to MINDS CLEARING LAND MINES.
- Wars end but buried land mines become the surprise gifts that keep on giving.
- Angola alone has 6 million hidden, unexploded ordnance.
- It costs $3 to plant a land mine and $300-$1,000 to get rid of it.
- HeroRATs have been trained to sniff out land mines but additional low-tech detection solutions are needed.
- One small idea could potentially prompt one large step for mankind.
The Problem
How to effectively detect and destroy/deactivate land mines through means that can be easily and inexpensively deployed.
The Solution
Get people involved in thinking of creative ways to solve the problem of land mines in an affordable, readily available way.
Why we think this can be accomplished
Creative problem solvers don’t necessarily have to be experts to solve problems. Orville and Wilbur Wright owned a bicycle repair shop, yet they invented the airplane. More recently, students were asked to develop an inexpensive blood centrifuge for use in third world countries. They modified a simple salad spinner to hold blood vials. This world contains a lot of talented people whose creativity has not yet been tapped.
Why we think this should be accomplished
Land mines kill and injure civilians and render land impassable and unusable for decades. They exist in over 60 countries around the globe from Belgium to Egypt and Angola to Cambodia. Flat terrain can sequester them. Hilly terrain can, too. Mines can be hidden by soil or overgrowth. It has been estimated, that with the currently available eradication techniques, it will take 1,000 – 2,000 years to rid the world of the landmines already in place.
Land mines are designed to maim and kill. They activate based on weight, trip wires or both. Some bounce up to shoulder height and spray sharp objects over a distance of 200 meters or less. Others detonate below waist level. Land mines do their job 24/7 without discrimination. Land mine eradication requires detection and thereafter safe detonation or deactivation.
Join our community of MINDS CLEARING LAND MINES and share your ideas.