US scientists are developing a technology that allows the explosives detetarem locusts through smell, a feature that presents quite advanced in these insects, more effective until the same capabilities demonstrated by dogs, according to those responsible for the project.
it is installed “on his back” grasshopper a robotic sensor very small, decoding and sends information gathered by the insect to a system equipped with a simple LED light: red indicates positive results for the presence of explosives, green proves that everything is as expected.
“the locusts are in possession of smell can detect particular smells even when these are mixed with others,” says Raman Baranidharan the BBC. The investigator received $ 750,000 from the Office of Naval American Research to continue the project.
Professor at the School of Engineering applied to the Science of the University of Washington, USA, Raman has studied this ability of locusts for several years and says that “with these robotic noses, the locusts will be able to find and identify objects and situations that are present hazardous chemicals. Explosives, for example “.
On the other hand, to bring locusts to local researching will be made” tattooing “to heat the basis of the insect body, without affecting their health concerns Srikanth Singamaneni. This specialist in “nanomaterials” assumes that this element is “a kind of biocompatible silk that is applied to the grasshopper wings and through temperature variations, allows drive the insect to specific locations and distance.”
Those responsible for investigating believe that this technology will be operational without limitations in two years, and the next twelve months will be extensive testing. Raman also hopes that these advances allow detect medical conditions in humans that can be diagnostic by smell.
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