Bee's have really long tongues.
Cons--they sting. Pros--too many to list.
I still don't like bees, but somehow with everything else I research, they keep popping up. This time, I was looking up houseflies--they taste with their feet, spit on food, then vacuum it up with their bizarre tube-mouth. Awesome.
In searching the BBC nature website for more information on an ancient Chinese method of solving murder mysteries with houseflies, I came across a gem of an article called "Bomblebees to the Rescue"
Ridiculously stupid name. But, the point is made--bee's are now being trained to sniff out bombs. Apparently, a bees sense of smell is comparable to a dogs and, with less training time necessary, way cheaper. Bees are such an attractive choice that the UK has given Heathrow Airport 250,000 pounds to start a bumblebee project. And now, the flood gates have opened--bee's are starting to be used in detecting landmines, illegal drug trafficking, and scientists are seeing if they can detect illness in humans.
There is a down-side. First, there are a plethora of reasons why you can't have bees flying around, free of restraint. Obviously, that would terrify any one in an enclosed area. But also, such as the case of detecting landmines, bee's have a short attention span. Yes, it takes them 5 seconds to learn (no, seriously...I read it, 5 seconds to learn), but if there are any tasty fruit trees around, they're off the job.
To combat this problem, scientists at Heathrow developed a vacuum cleaner-like mechanism that houses bees who have been trained to stick out their (incredibly long) tongue when they smell their target. Then, a sensor goes off when it detects the tongue and Done! Illicit material, FOUND!
My prediction for the future: bee's sensing cancerous tumors, bee's sensing dangerous gas leaks, and me still being afraid of bees.
I still don't like bees, but somehow with everything else I research, they keep popping up. This time, I was looking up houseflies--they taste with their feet, spit on food, then vacuum it up with their bizarre tube-mouth. Awesome.
In searching the BBC nature website for more information on an ancient Chinese method of solving murder mysteries with houseflies, I came across a gem of an article called "Bomblebees to the Rescue"
Ridiculously stupid name. But, the point is made--bee's are now being trained to sniff out bombs. Apparently, a bees sense of smell is comparable to a dogs and, with less training time necessary, way cheaper. Bees are such an attractive choice that the UK has given Heathrow Airport 250,000 pounds to start a bumblebee project. And now, the flood gates have opened--bee's are starting to be used in detecting landmines, illegal drug trafficking, and scientists are seeing if they can detect illness in humans.
There is a down-side. First, there are a plethora of reasons why you can't have bees flying around, free of restraint. Obviously, that would terrify any one in an enclosed area. But also, such as the case of detecting landmines, bee's have a short attention span. Yes, it takes them 5 seconds to learn (no, seriously...I read it, 5 seconds to learn), but if there are any tasty fruit trees around, they're off the job.
To combat this problem, scientists at Heathrow developed a vacuum cleaner-like mechanism that houses bees who have been trained to stick out their (incredibly long) tongue when they smell their target. Then, a sensor goes off when it detects the tongue and Done! Illicit material, FOUND!
My prediction for the future: bee's sensing cancerous tumors, bee's sensing dangerous gas leaks, and me still being afraid of bees.
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