Nature may offer national security lessons

DURHAM, N.C., Jan. 29 (UPI) -- A new book suggests the United States might apply some of nature's methods to better protect the nation from terror threats.

Duke University Assistant Professor Raphael Sagarin, who co-edited the book with security expert Terence Taylor, said biological organisms inherently understand they can't eliminate all risks; they have to identify and respond to only the most serious threats, or they end up wasting their resources.

"These models suggests the (Transportation Security Administration) would be more effective by being much more selective in whom it considers for screening, rather than trying to eliminate all risks …" said Sagarin.

The book -- a "Natural Security: A Darwinian Approach to a Dangerous World" -- is the combined work of paleobiologists, anthropologists, psychologists, ecologists and national security experts who examined a wide array of evolutionary models and evaluated which could be applied to security issues.

The book is to be published next month by the University of California Press.