Sandia Labs Training Bomb Sniffing Bees
Yesterday I asked what the hell they do at Sandia Laboratories since they are obviously not paying attention to cyber security. Well, today I got my answer. They are training bees to stick out their tongues when they smell bombs, dynamite and other similar explosive materials.
This is your Homeland Security dollars at work. Now they want to ship the bees in little boxes to soldiers in Iraq and to TSA employees at airports. The trick is to use the bee to sniff for roadside bombs or for explosives in suitcases. Because, I guess, dogs are not as efficient? Take too long to train? Eat and poo too much? Drool excessively?
From Reuters here:
Researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico said they trained honeybees to stick out their proboscis — the tube they use to feed on nectar — when they smell explosives in anything from cars and roadside bombs to belts similar to those used by suicide bombers.
Researchers in the program, dubbed the Stealthy Insect Sensor Project, published their findings on Monday.
“When bees detect the presence of explosives, they simply stick their proboscis out,” research scientist Tim Haarmann told Reuters in a telephone interview. “You don’t have to be an expert in animal behaviour to understand it as there is no ambiguity.”
The findings followed 18 months of research at the U.S. Energy Department’s Los Alamos facility, the nation’s leading nuclear weapons laboratory.
Haarmann said the bees could be carried in hand-held detectors the size of a shoe box, and could be used to sniff out explosives in airports, roadside security checks, or even placed in robot bomb disposal equipment.
He said the next step would be to manufacture the bee boxes and train security guards in their use.
You can defeat the detection capability of a bee with a dose of Raid. Or a good rolled up newspaper. If you swat a bomb sniffing bee, would you get charged with assault on a Federal officer? Along with all of the shenanigans they put you through at an airport, they are now going to sic their pet bee on you too?
Wanna see a real trained bee? Click the picture below.
