Robobees!

[Trinity]

 

[Second Summer]

Hehe, I love the greenwash.

But seriously, this could be the future for all I know. With nano technology, I'm not surprised if they will be able to build little robot insects.

We're doomed.

How are our real bees doing at the moment, does anyone know?

 

[Tom L.]

^^^ Good question. I haven't heard anything new. 'course, it's early spring where I am...

I'll have to keep an eye on the bees this year as I'm working in my garden. Entomology is an interest of mine anyway, although I don't collect insects.

I tend to be interested in the solitary bees: there are a lot of bees who don't make hives- each female tends a little burrow or burrows, or maybe a hole in some wood, and provisions a small nest with honey and pollen for each of her young. I like them! I guess they can sting, but it's usually not as bad as from a honeybee or bumblebee... although I don't know because I've never been stung by one of the solitary bees. Some of them like to lap up sweat from people's skin and that happened to me once as I was riding my bicycle. It was the oddest sensation as I watched that little tongue (or whatever they have) working on me...

 

[Trinity]

I have a really bee friendly garden, so I get loads of bees (or atleast I have so far). I really hope that this continues!

 

[Blobbenstein]

robot insects could make a good insecticide substitute for organic farming, I have thought.

 

[Trinity]

robot insects could make a good insecticide substitute for organic farming, I have thought.

I don't get that on little bit

 

[Blobbenstein]

I don't get that on little bit

well, you know how insecticides kill unwanted insects?

Well little robot insects could target and kill unwanted insects, that are problematic in agriculture.

 

[Blobbenstein]

probably at today's technology, we couldn't even create a virtual insect with the intelligence of an ant, even with a super computer, so real robotic insects are probably a long way off.

 

[Trinity]

Well little robot insects could target and kill unwanted insects, that are problematic in agriculture.

Oh - I see what you mean.
But I am not even sure if you are kidding or not. I think that are so many better solutions than that.

Harvard is trying to bring these forwards now (which is what I presume inspired the Greenpeace video), with the following in mind:

• autonomously pollinating a field of crops;
• search and rescue (e.g., in the aftermath of a natural disaster);
• hazardous environment exploration;
• military surveillance;
• high resolution weather and climate mapping; and
• traffic monitoring.

Hmmmmm.....

 

[Blobbenstein]

Oh - I see what you mean.
But I am not even sure if you are kidding or not. I think that are so many better solutions than that.

no, not kidding.

Pesticides are part of the reason that bees are dying, I think. If there were robots that could target the actual problem insects, then the bees may be unharmed. But as I said, that is a long way off.

 

[Trinity]

no, not kidding.

It still feels like 'robbing Peter to pay Paul' though.
Although I guess humanity just keeps on patching up the mess they create. One day we might find that there is a festering wound under all of those layers of 'patching up'.

 

[Blobbenstein]

I'm sure there are technological solutions to most things, but along the way, we just keep creating more problems.

 

[Trinity]

And not forgetting that there are non-technological solutions to just about everything too, but we just keep creating more problems (usually with the technology throwing everything out of balance).

 

[beancounter]

probably at today's technology, we couldn't even create a virtual insect with the intelligence of an ant, even with a super computer, so real robotic insects are probably a long way off.

We wouln't need to give the robo insect an AI. We could probably control it remotely, like drones today. It could be a very precise (no collateral damage) means of getting rid of various enemies of the state (e.g. Al Qaeda)