Rhinos are becoming their own security systems with technology to scare away poachers.
Is this a way to making poaching go extinct?
There are rhinos in South Africa walking around with cameras attached to their horns.
They're also wearing heart rate monitors and GPS tags that track their location, too.
It's a rhino wandering around! GIF via Protect.
Why? This technology is being used to take power away from poachers.
The U.K.-based organization Protect has created what they call the Real-time Anti-Poaching Intelligence Device (RAPID), mostly because poachers are the worst. The device is meant to help protect rhinos and other animals threatened by poaching.
If the data below is any indication, it's very needed.
Rhino poaching has gone up by 9,000% in the past 7 years.
"They're being wiped out for pseudoscientific cure-all medicines and as decorative status symbols based on their financial value," said Steve Piper, the director of Protect.
There are believed to only be four Northern white rhinos left in the wild. So sad. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
"A kilo of rhino horn is worth around $65,000, 50% more than gold, yet it is basically little different from our own fingernails."
OH MY.
"[Rhinos] have come close to extinction in the past and were brought back from the brink by dedicated conservation efforts," he said. "But poaching is escalating so rapidly that we really could see these animals disappear within a decade."
That's what RAPID is designed to stop.
The heart rate monitor is placed on a rhino and used to alert rangers anytime the rhino's heart rate does anything odd. So if a rhino sees poachers and gets stressed, the heart rate climbs and an alarm goes off.
Then, a camera is used to see what situations the rhino is facing. The camera can determine whether it's actually a human jerk trying to kill the rhino or something natural, like a lion.
The camera gets implanted in the rhino's horn. You can see it in action here. Image by Protect, used with permission.
It does not pose a risk to the rhino's health, either, and it can be implanted painlessly, according to The Verge.
But what the camera does do is give rangers a solid chance to get to the site before a rhino might be killed. And in the unfortunate case that they're too late, it's nearly impossible for a poacher to get away with any items of value in such a short amount of time.
The RAPID technology might soon be able to protect other animals, too. According to The Verge, RAPID could also be adapted to other threatened species such as elephants, lions, or even whales. And a version for tigers is already in development!
When it comes down to it, putting cameras and heart monitors on threatened animals won't be the only thing that helps us save them.
"We all must work together to protect these animals from this very real extinction threat and the horrifically barbaric ways that horns, ivory, bones and furs are harvested," Piper said.
It'll take technology, anti-poaching teams on the front lines, and all of us educating ourselves and each other on the effect poaching has on some of our most beloved animals — some that we might not have much longer if we aren't careful.
Beaver in water. Photo by 
An actual beaver dam on the now-thriving Price River
Behold, the Rye Riptides miniboat. 
A man sweating in his car.via
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."