Via DefenseTech:
August 17, 2005 Bee Mine Bee Mine, Baby
Since the invasion of Iraq, the U.S. military has used chickens http://www.defensetech.org/archives/000116.html as chemical weapons sensors,
dolphins as mine detectors http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030328-120935-2146r ,
and armor-wearing dogs as controllers of unruly crowds http://www.defensetech.org/archives/000883.html .
And, generally, two-legged soldiers have been grateful for the four-legged and finned assists.
Members of the insect community, however, have been downright pissed. They hate evil-doers just as much as the next genus. And they've been itching to get in on the action.
Luckily, Roland http://www.primidi.com/2005/08/17.html tells us, the little buggers may soon get their chance. Researchers funded by Darpa (of course) are training honey bees to sniff out land mines http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/aug2005/tc20050816_6487_tc119.htm .
Bees... can be trained in a couple of days to pick up the scent of the explosive in the landmine... When released into a minefield, the bees find their way toward the mines... [They] are too small to detect either with the naked eye or high-resolution video at long ranges. So instead, the team employs a laser emitter that sweeps an area like radar or sonar. When the light hits a bee, it reflects, and sensors are able to tell by the reflection just where the bee is. After sweeping several times, the scientists are able to crunch the data and see statistically where the higher occurrences of bees are located.
In controlled situations, the method is extremely effective: Bees can detect very small traces of explosive vapors with 97% accuracy and are "wrong" -- that is, passing over a mine without noticing it -- less than 1% of the time.
THERE'S MORE: Animal lovers, be sure to read up on England's chicken-powered nuke http://www.defensetech.org/archives/001490.html ,
the Navy's plan to give sailors the sharks' electric sensors http://www.defensetech.org/archives/001655.html
, one police department's camera-equipped pooch http://www.defensetech.org/archives/001404.html
, and another's attempt to put a trained monkey on the SWAT team. http://www.defensetech.org/archives/001500.html
#33#
Leigh www.leighm.net