Researchers in China have created the world’s lightest brain controller, which can have the ability to direct the flight of bees. Made by a team from the Beijing Institute of Technology, this controller is able to connect bees to make them cyborgs. The cyborg bees could be sent on tactical missions for the ‘, for military use or search and rescue work. This makes new opportunities for utilizing the work of insects instead of humans or machines.
How the Bee Brain Controller Works
The brain controller weighs merely 74 milligrams, world’s lightest brain controller. The brain likely controller, strapped to the bee’s back, has three functional sharp thin needles that that punctured through the bee’s brain. This tiny device delivers electronic signals to tell the most complex flying insect to fly in the the prescribed direction: left; right; forwards; backwards. In experimental tests, they able to to follow and complete the signal commands given nine out of tten times.
The controller signals throughout the device and makes the bee feel an illusion of movement; and creates the possibility for the scientist to guide bee to complete for an exact point in space. Statements made by the project lead professor Zhao Jieliang, the insect cyborgs have incredible movability, hidden potential and longer duration compared or above small man like robots.
Use in Military and Emergency Work
Professor Zhao mentioned that these bee cyborgs could be very useful for secret military operations, counter-terrorism initiatives, drug sniffs and even rescue operations in disaster hit areas. Insects like bees, are quick, small, and go places we cannot with drones or people—in addition to urban combat and hot zones such as the typical war zone.
This work was based on previous research in Singapore that controlled beetles and cockroaches in the same manner. But the vehicle for China’s insect research is three times lighter than the first version.
Future Challenges
The most significant challenge ahead is the battery life. The battery now is small so it develops a very quickly drained charge. A larger battery is simply too heavy for the bee to transport, and the device itself will have to be changed to be used on other insects as each reacts to signals differently.
Professor Zhao’s team would like to make the insect’s movement more precise and capable of repeating movements by having the signals smarter and more managed in the future.
