Bomb Sniffing Bees
It is commonly known that the olfactory senses of dogs are very fine-tuned. We use dogs to sniff out buried people, drugs and bombs. Although this method has been proved successful in the past, scientists wonder if their olfactory senses are the best of the best. In the past scientists have tried to train wasps and bee’s for the detection of bombs but have been unsuccessful due to lack of technology. Recently, new technology has allowed scientists to finally harness the incredible ability of the common honey bee.
At the U.S. Military research facility, they have been testing and training the common honey bee to sniff out bombs. The Stealthy Insect Sensor Project was created to fine tune the detection of bombs in improvised explosive devices. Scientists used the Pavlov method, by exposing the insects to the odor of explosives and offering a sugar water reward, researchers said they trained bees to recognize substances ranging from dynamite and C-4 plastic explosives to the howitzer propellant grains used in improvised explosives in Iraq. When the bees detect the scent of a bomb, they stick out their proboscis as if they sense nectar.
Researchers also examined the bees protein expression and to isolated genetic and physiological differences between those bees with good olfaction and those without. They also determined how well bees could detect explosives even if the scent is mostly covered by something like lotion, or gas. These researchers also looked at speeding up the evolution process by examining the bee’s antennae, if improvements needed to made in order to increase the longevity of their lives.
Not only can bee’s fly, but they are so small of an insect that a bomber wont even see it and even if he/she does, they may try and swat it away not thinking it could be a secret weapon. The military plans to place this trained bee’s in small compartments, so they can carry them around to sniff out explosive vapors on the belts of suicide bombers. It’s too bad the military didn’t train the bee’s to attack after they detect an explosive.
Posted By: EJH (13)
posted by PWH @ 2:14 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Your post is very interesting and well written. I remember hearing about this before at some point, and I thought the same thing then as I do now. I know you mention it slightly in the post, but I wonder exactly how practical is training the bees since the workers only live about 6 weeks from egg to death? The different jobs they take on during the first weeks of life before moving on to become foragers might cut down on the time they have to be bomb sniffers as well. I could be wrong, but it seems this very interesting mechanism of bomb sniffing is short-lived, unless of course training them is insanely easy and efficient.
Posted by MPC(13)
I really like your post. I actually never heard of that before, I am so shocked that I can't even believe it's true. I hope they are successful in that experiment, can you believe how much easier it would be to detect bombs anywhere? And it could be such a subtile way to found them too. Like you said it would be so much better if they could actually attacke the bomber. But it is already a big step forward and I hope to hear more from the result of these research.
LYRS
That is really interesting that bees can be used to sniff out bombs. Would bees be more effective than dogs? If dogs detect a bomb or durgs they are able to communicate with humans through barking or showing excitement. It seems with bees it would be more difficult to tell their reaction to a certain chemical, because they are smaller and the researchers have to look for a small change in the bees or examine their protein level. Is it more difficult to train the bees than to train dogs? It would be really incredible if bees become the main method to sniff out chemicals for the military.
Posted by ALT (13)
This was a great article. I liked the content of the article, and it was very well written. It was easy to follow and very informative. I am very intrigued by the idea of training insects. I had no idea that honey bees has such a developed sense of smell. Good job.
Posted by DJF (13)
I found this article to be extremely interesting and have never heard or even thought about using a honey bee to detect bombs. This example proves what cutting edge scientist we have in this day and age. But I am concerned about how effective it can be, seeing that bee’s are trained to take on different jobs and don’t live as long as other insects and animals. So with that though, can we train other insects and animals that may be more effective?
Regardless this was a very interesting study and it’s ironic that a little honey bee can detect something so devastating.
posted by Rachel McMahon
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