High camel races.

• Position: Brief article

They're fearless, tireless, and almost never fall off. Even If they were to take a tumble, it wouldn't bother them. That's because these sponge-headed jockeys in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) are robots. Camel racing has been popular on the Arabian Peninsula (see map) for centuries. Today, it's especially prominent In the U.A.E., Bahrain, Oman, and Qatar. A winning camel can earn its owner big money and, until recently, kids as young as 3 or 4 were used as jockeys because of their small size. In fact, thousands of kids were bought or kidnapped from South Asia and Africa and forced into the job before the U.A.E. banned child labor in 2005. To keep their winning edge, camel owners turned to tech. The result: a cheap, simple device with a remote-controlled arm that swings a small plastic whip, and...