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Culture & Religion — February 18, 2009

UCLA Knows Where to Find Osama bin Laden

Merrell Hambleton

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The intelligence necessary to track down Osama bin Laden, according to the Telegraph, may travel straight from the Ivory Tower to the desert caves of Pakistan.

The MIT International Review recently published a paper by a UCLA research team headed by a geography professor named Thomas Gillespie. Gillespe and Co. report that it may be possible to all but pinpoint bin Laden using mathematical models based on the spread of animal species.

Apparently, taking into account the Taliban tsar’s “need for security, electricity, high ceilings to accommodate his 6ft 4in frame and spare rooms for his bodyguards,” the search can be narrowed to three-walled compound in a North West Pakistani town. This is some impressive research, no doubt. But will bin Laden’s behavior really follow the patterns set by other animals? Maybe suicide bombings are more common in the animal community than currently known.

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