4 ms·

Surprise, surprise .. 'authorities' are 'doing it better'. Well, this tech is not for the authorities. Its for children to use to help clear the danger away f

Surprise, surprise .. 'authorities' are 'doing it better'. Well, this tech is not for the authorities. Its for children to use to help clear the danger away from their villages. Its a tech that anyone can apply, not just those with access industrialized manufacturing facilities and the 'mine-clearing economy'. 99% clearance rate? I think most villages would be happy with being able to clear a safe path for their kids to walk on, at any rate. This cheap, useful, easy to apply technology allows that to occur. Make 100 of them, let them loose for a few weeks, and suddenly 99% seems a lot more doable with this method than any other - especially for the resource-lacking Afghani villages who are left with the war liability that the imperial, authoritarian states, have given them ..

_djo_ 14y ago
What you don't understand is that mined areas are typically marked off, which is why it's children who are most often affected because they're more likely to ignore warning signs. Nonetheless because most people stay away from those areas the risk is lower. When you demine an area, you signal that it's safe for the population to move in, which means that if you haven't actually cleared 99% of the mines you're increasing the possibility of a person stepping on a mine. That's the reason the UN demands such a high clearance rate before an area can be declared safe for humans to live in.
ms4720 14y ago
A safe path is 99+% clear, this is not a 99% solution. And please keep in mind human nature, a false sense of security will kill you. If it is a flat out no go zone people will avoid it, if they think it is safe they will find mines on there own. Fear can keep you alive and anything that lessens the fear of the minefield without rendering it safe is a net loss of human life in my opinion.

4 ms·

Surprise, surprise .. 'authorities' are 'doing it better'. Well, this tech is not for the authorities. Its for children to use to help clear the danger away f

by primitur 14y ago

_djo_ 14y ago
What you don't understand is that mined areas are typically marked off, which is why it's children who are most often affected because they're more likely to ignore warning signs. Nonetheless because most people stay away from those areas the risk is lower. When you demine an area, you signal that it's safe for the population to move in, which means that if you haven't actually cleared 99% of the mines you're increasing the possibility of a person stepping on a mine. That's the reason the UN demands such a high clearance rate before an area can be declared safe for humans to live in.
ms4720 14y ago
A safe path is 99+% clear, this is not a 99% solution. And please keep in mind human nature, a false sense of security will kill you. If it is a flat out no go zone people will avoid it, if they think it is safe they will find mines on there own. Fear can keep you alive and anything that lessens the fear of the minefield without rendering it safe is a net loss of human life in my opinion.