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Are you as smart as a rat? (A panel at the 69th World Science Fiction Con)

Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011

Close to fifty science fiction/fantasy fans attended a lively and informative panel about land mine clearance (Are you as smart as a rat?) on August 17 at the 69th World Science Fiction Convention in Reno, Nevada.  I moderated. My co-panelists included Todd Brun, Howard Davidson and Dave O’Neill.

Wars end but buried land mines become the surprise gifts that keep on giving.  Angola alone has six million hidden, unexploded ordnance. Furthermore, it costs around $3 to plant a land mine and $300-$1,000 to get rid of it.  Rats have been trained to sniff out land mines but additional low-tech detection solutions are needed.

A number of audience members at this WorldCon panel expressed surprise regarding the immense scope of the land mine problem worldwide, which involves approximately 70 countries and possibly as many as 110 million unexploded land mines.  I hope other science fiction/fantasy cons will hold similar panels and encourage people to put on their current and futuristic thinking caps.  One small idea could potentially prompt one large step for mankind.

Share your ideas about land mine clearance via the Land Clearing Landmines WordPress blog (http://mindsclearinglandmines.wordpress.com) or Facebook page.

Warm wishes,

Laurel Anne Hill (Author of “Heroes Arise”)

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CNN World News Posts Great Article about HeroRATs (from Laurel Anne Hill)

Friday, September 17th, 2010
Photo From the HeroRAT Website

CNN World News posted a great HeroRAT article, including a dozen photos, on September 8, 2010.  HeroRATs, as you may recall, are the giant pouched African rats used to sniff out land mines and tuberculosis.  The title of the CNN piece is “Giant rats put noses to work on Africa’s land mine epidemic.”   

Although the four-week-old rat (photo 1 in the CNN article) is really cute, I think my favorite picture shows a rat sniffing a tea-infuser ball (photo 8).  How clever to put TNT in low-tech tea balls in order to teach the rats to sniff for the explosive.

For those of you who have not yet read my HeroRAT op-ed published by AOL News on August 17, be sure to check it out, particularly the link to the Parry Gripp  “Hero Rats” video and song on YouTube.

Warm wishes,

Laurel Anne Hill (Author of “Heroes Arise”)

p.s.  In case you wonder why I sometimes refer to HeroRATs and other times Hero Rats, let me explain.  APOPO, the charity running the project, prefers HeroRAT/HeroRATs.  However, people often refer to “Hero Rat” or “Hero Rats” in their articles.

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Why HeroRATs? (by Laurel Anne Hill, Author of “Heroes Arise”)

Saturday, August 21st, 2010

Eeeek, a Rat! Oh, it's only a HeroRAT. He must have seen the title of my novel, "Heroes Arise."

I’ve been receiving lots of positive feedback on my recent opinion piece published by AOL News on August 17, 2010.  I’m happy to report, “Support your Local Hero Rat” is a success.

So why did I choose to write about APOPO HeroRATs?  How did I even learn HeroRATs existed?

Things started with a discussion between some members of my church.  We had heard about the horrendous number of buried, unexploded landmines in Angola, and the resulting unavailability of otherwise good land to cultivate crops.  Angola had a problem with self-sufficiency.  Farmland was vital to their economy.  All methods to detect and deactivate landmines were time-intensive, money-intensive, or both.  Might there be better methods awaiting discovery?  Might people discover such methods if they were aware of the magnitude of the landmine problem–a problem often neglected by the U.S. media?

I did some online research about demining and contacted some experts in the field.  I found out about HeroRATS on a google search.  At first, I wondered if HeroRATs were for real.  After all, landmine experts I had communicated with via email had mentioned nothing about the critters.  So I went to the APOPO website and read their 2009 annual report.  As weeks progressed, HeroRATs were mentioned a number of times in various blog entries, YouTube videos and online news reports.

I decided HeroRATs were for real and started writing an article.  Gina Misiroglu  at Red Room suggested pitching my essay to AOL.

The HeroRAT website now links to “Support your Local Hero Rat.”  What an honor!  I hope a lot of people read the piece and start thinking about more low-tech solutions to a big problem.

And I’m really delighted over the plans to bring HeroRATS to Angola.

Warm wishes,

Laurel Anne Hill  (Author of “Heroes Arise”)
http://www.laurelannehill.com

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HeroRATs Arise! (by Laurel Anne Hill, Author of “Heroes Arise”)

Tuesday, August 17th, 2010
HeroRAT in Training (photo by APOPO)

HeroRATs Arise!

In case you were wondering, this blog entry isn’t about my heroic, eight-foot-tall lizard person on the planet Thard.  No, today “Gundack the kren” makes room for some real-life heroes with four legs: HeroRATs.  HeroRATs are African giant pouched rats trained to sniff out buried, unexploded landmines and cases of tuberculosis (TB).

 On August 17, AOL News published my opinion piece about HeroRATs:  “Support your Local Hero Rat.”  Please use the following link to connect to my essay.
http://www.aolnews.com/opinion/article/opinion-support-your-local-hero-rat/19595717

Also, the communications coordinator at Apopo HeroRATs provided me with some updated information over the weekend.  The HeroRATs cumulative total for TB detection (cases missed by human screeners at some local hospitals in Tanzania) is now 964 patients.  This means that HeroRATs have increased TB detection rates at those hospitals by 44%, effectively preventing 14,460 additional people from catching the deadly disease.

Let’s give a cheer for HeroRATs!

Laurel Anne Hill (Author of “Heroes Arise”)
http://www.laurelannehill.com

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