Engineers have developed new safety devices to save lives.

To prevent birds from striking planes landing and taking off from airports, aviation authorities use drones and birds of prey like falcons to scare away feathered animals. A special falcon from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands introduced in 2019 fully repelled birds around the Dutch city of Workum within 70 seconds, CNN reported, citing a study recently published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface.

In contrast, a drone only managed to clear 80 percent of the birds in the same amount of time, the Groningen researchers said in the study.

The said falcon, however, is a robot made of fiberglass and Expanded Polypropylene, and mimics the movements of the large and powerful falcon, CNN reported.

Weighing a quarter of a kilogram, RoboFalcon has a propeller on each wing, a camera fitted on its head, and is remotely controlled from the ground by a trained pilot. Its developers from Groningen are trying to improve the robot so it can be flown during rains and heavy winds, and for longer than 15 minutes which is the limit of its battery.

Meanwhile, the Belgian non-profit APOPO, in collaboration with the Eindhoven University of Technology, has developed a new way of saving people trapped under collapsed buildings following an earthquake. APOPO and EUT have a prototype of a tiny, high-tech backpack for use by rescuers in finding survivors in disaster zones, according to CNN.

The backpack is equipped with a video camera, two-way microphone, and location transmitter. It has a switch on a built-in vest that triggers a beeper when pulled by a survivor to alert rescuers where to dig.

The catch is someone has to wear the backpack and bring it to a survivor under the rubble.

Only trained rats, specifically the African Giant Pouched Rat species, using their natural sense of smell are used to wear the backpack and find earthquake survivors.