Undercover mice trained to sniff out trouble

An Israeli company is aiming to revolutionise the way explosives, drugs, and even money are detected at airports and border crossings — with the help of specially trained covert agents.

These agents, however, are not just any regular agents. They are mice, which are being used as sniffer animals for the first time.

The system, developed by BioExplorers, is simple: A traveller stands inside a small booth and is hit by a gentle blast of air that is then sucked into an small opaque chamber, where a group of eight mice are on duty.