Finding explosives is notoriously difficult. Machines that detect explosive chemicals are expensive and unreliable. Animals that can sniff out bombs are difficult and time-consuming to train. Magic doesn't work and also isn't real. And yet, detecting explosives is extremely important for safety and security. Cheap bomb detectors are in demand by police, the military, airport security, and even governments like Vietnam and South Korea, who still have active minefields left over from last century.

The solution? Locusts.

Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis are attempting to implant locusts with cybernetic enhancements that will allow them to be remotely piloted, use their antennae to detect explosives, and wirelessly relay that information back to a handler. These cyborg insects could help cut down on costs, increase detection reliability, and ultimately save lives.

The research is being funded by the Office of Naval Research and led by professor Baranidharan Raman, an expert on locust senses. According to Raman, locusts are uniquely adept at picking up new smells. "They can smell a new odor that comes into the environment within a few hundred milliseconds," he toldPopular Science.

Locusts' excellent odor sensors, as well as their simple brain structure, make them ideal candidates for these cybernetic implants. The researchers can train the locusts to identify specific odors, and by implanting electrodes into the locust's brains the researchers are able to identify when the locust detects that smell. This method works even with other overlapping odors or in different environments.

The researchers have also developed a way to control the locusts' direction of movement, by giving them "tattoos" made of biocompatible silk on each wing. These tattoos react with light to produce heat, so by shining a laser on one wing, a pilot can make the locust fly in the other direction.

The Navy is hoping to get a working prototype within a year, and fully operational locust cyborgs within two years. Soon, undetected bombs and minefields may be a thing of the past, with cyborg locusts as a thing of the present.

Source: Washington University in St. Louis via Popular Science

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