Knowledge grows in surprising ways

Source: The Economist

Many years ago I was the project officer for a National Academy of Sciences report on micro livestock that could be useful for meat production in developing countries. Our office, as I recall, also funded a project in Africa to improve the breading and care of one of the animals identified in the report, the Gambian pouched rat (Cricetomys gambianus). It turns out that these little guys are now proving a cost effective sniffer for land mines in Mozambique.