Chinese Scientists Create Cyborg Bees That Can Be Controlled Like Drones for Undercover Military Missions
A tiny backpack relays commands straight to their brain.
Seal Team Bee
Researchers at the Beijing Institute of Technology have turned innocent bees into cyborgs that can be controlled via a 74-milligram insect brain controller.
As the South China Morning Post reports, the controller pierces the bee's tiny brain with three needles and uses signals sent via electronic pulses to make it fly forwards, backwards, left, or right.
According to the reporting, the bee obeyed these commands nine out of ten times.
The researchers are hoping that the tiny cyborg could allow the military to infiltrate hard-to-access space or be used in search and rescue missions to find survivors in natural disasters, according to a research paper.
"Insect-based robots inherit the superior mobility, camouflage capabilities and environmental adaptability of their biological hosts," the paper reads, as quoted by the SCMP.
Hive Mind
The idea of turning real-life insects into military agents is surprisingly widespread. We've already come across scientists turning cockroaches into a crawling legion of desert recon operatives.
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