Japan Uses Monkeys to Measure Radiation at Fukushima

Via the Telegraph: A new project by researchers at Fukushima University will use monkeys to test radiation levels in the forests around the Fukishima nuclear plants devastated by last spring’s earthquake and tsunami. Outfitted with collars that have radiation meters and GPS transmitters, as a professor involved said, this is “the first time such an experiment has been carried out with monkeys.” Well, yes, that seems unsurprising to me since the headline alone was enough to draw my confusion. Whereas prior to this experiment forest radiation levels were measured via helicopter, apparently the monkeys are ideal for measuring the radiation because they spend so much time at various levels of the forest (tree tops, forest floor and everything in-between). [h/t Jasmine]