Bomb-Detecting Bees

jmichaelg writes: "The NY Times is running an article on using bees to sniff out bombs. Bees can smell scents that are diluted to a few parts per billion (the Times says "few thousand parts per trillion," but what do you expect in an innumerate society?) The bees are trained to pass up flowers in favor of bombs within a couple of hours using sugar water as the reward. What I found to be one of the most interesting findings was that the bees communicate what the target scent is so you only need to teach a few bees what to look for and they'll pass the word on to rest of the colony. The Dept of Defense is developing a radio transmitter the size of a grain of salt they'll glue to the bees to communicate where the bomb is to the bee handlers."

Comments

the best idea

[tps12]

You know what would be way better than bomb-detecting bees? Bee-detecting bombs!

Imagine: a family reunion. Barbecue and beer in the park. The shady trees and babbling brook. Paradise.

Then: the buzzing of bees! A nest of trouble, stirred up by your mischievous nephew!

What to do?!?

Enter: your anti-bee force! A fleet of tiny jets, autonomous yet steered by a microchip! They soar around, bombing the bees with poison gas! The festivities continue, bee free!