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Scientists Use Bees to Sniff Out the Illicit and the Dangerous
from Science News
It's the ultimate way to pull off a sting: Teach a group of ordinary honeybees to ignore flowers and, instead, focus on vapors from explosives used in bombs. Then send the bees off in teams to sniff out terrorists. Or track the molecular trail of illicit drugs, or even point police to a rotting corpse.
In recent years, researchers have shown that with just a few minutes of training, undercover bees can detect the smell of TNT, methamphetamine or almost any other scent just as the bees would respond to pollen.
Wasps’ sniffing abilities may also be put to use finding bodies in search-and-rescue missions or helping farmers track infestations that, unchecked, could lead to crop failure or foodborne illness. Based on these findings, scientists have begun devising an array of chemical detection devices that exploit the insects’ powerful sense for scents.
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