ABC: Fish Used to Fight Terrorism

[deadparrot]

NEW YORK, Oct. 21, 2006 — Somewhere in New York State (we can't say where), a computer is monitoring every move of eight bluegill fish in a tank. The moment a few start to cough (yes, fish cough) the computer sends an alert and takes water samples.

Called the Intelligent Aquatic BioMonitoring System (IABS), the contraption is the latest high-tech defense against potential terrorism attacks on the nation's water supply — and it comes in handy, too, for detecting other types of contamination, say a diesel spill from a truck accident.

Scientists are reaching out to nature and back into history, using everything from birds to bees to fish to water fleas along with equipment that can alert authorities if something is amiss in the air or water.

Unlike man-made sensors that detect only specific contaminants, these fish and other such nature-made sensors respond to a broad range of problems. While they are unable to indicate that, say, there's ammonia in the water like a machine can, they can show that something is very wrong — and in most cases much faster than anything man-made.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/CSM/story?id=2579003&page=1

[eppur_se_muova]

1. Coughing fish? I thought a recent conversation on flatworm sex was weird.

[Ian David]

2. This is the progeny of the old "OPERATION: LIMPET"

[rpannier]

3. Damn!

I was hoping this would be a Dr. Evil-like story, where we were putting death rays on the backs of fish.

[lumberjack_jeff]

4. But it does make them ill-tempered. n/t

[Toots]

5. Screw ABC

I refuse to watch that network for anything.........To me watching that network is supporting the destruction of America and I love the country I grew up in.

[trof]

6. I was thinking groupers with grenade launchers.

*hee*
:-)