Police Dogs Being Trained to Sniff Out Covid-19, and Amazon Introduces New Shipping Boxes With a Creative Twist.
Dogs in Chile are being trained to sniff out coronavirus in humans. The hope is that this can help schools and other busy spaces such as malls and sports centers reopen sooner. Training of the “bio-detector” dogs is expected to be complete by mid-September.
For now, the training program is very small, with only four dogs in training. One is a Labrador, and the other three are Golden Retrievers. They are being trained to detect “a new odor,” the smell of covid-19 patients.
“A dog can detect, in an hour, it can sniff 250 people. So when we begin opening stadiums, schools, businesses, restaurants, it will be essential that in those places that are being opened, as we seek normalcy, we can now add our bio-detector dogs,” said Colonel Julio Santelices from the Chilean police.
However, there is currently no evidence that dogs can be trained to sniff out the virus. Coronavirus doesn’t have a smell, per se, but researchers are hopeful that dogs can be trained to recognize something in a victim’s sweat.
“A body that contracts Covid-19 generates volatile organic compounds. A sample is taken from a person in the early stages of the infection. A gauze is left for about 15 minutes on an individual’s underarm. That’s the sample we store and use to train the dogs with,” said Fernando Mardones, a university professor and veterinary epidemiologist.
“The selected dogs have years working on the detection of drugs, explosives, and other types of things. For them, it is simply learning to detect a new smell, a new aroma,” said Mardones.
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Amazon is working on solving two problems at once. Helping people to relieve boredom during quarantine, and providing something to do with all of the Amazon boxes that keep piling up. At least, that’s what happens in some households.
Starting this week, Amazon will start sending some orders in “more environmentally friendly” boxes. These boxes have a built-in play factor that will allow them to be turned into something more fun and exciting.
For example, some boxes can be turned into a cat condo, while others can be turned into a robot costume, a rocket, or a mini-golf windmill. The boxes are part of Amazon’s new “Less Packaging, More Smiles” program. A QR code on the boxes will direct customers to Amazon.com/ThisBox for instructions.
“We know customers love to get creative and reuse their Amazon packaging in a number of ways – this inspired us to create these new packaging designs that give customers an easy way to learn how we’re making our packaging better,” said Amazon in a statement.
As a result, adults, kids, and pets alike will have something new to do with their time. However, Amazon also has cheap books online with free shipping. Granted, children and cats both might prefer the cardboard boxes.
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