Bomb-sniffing locusts can slip into tight spots

The insects were fitted with sensors that let scientists monitor brain waves
The insects were fitted with sensors that let scientists monitor brain waves
RAMAN LAB

Dogs may be the traditional animal for sniffing explosives, but when it comes to getting into hard-to-reach spaces, the military are looking towards a smaller option.

The US navy has invested $750,000 (£560,000) into research to design a “bomb-sniffing cyborg locust”, and turn the pest into a sophisticated weapon.

Locusts have a more powerful sense of smell than anything humans can artificially replicate. The insects can detect and track new odours within a few hundred milliseconds, using about 50,000 smell sensors in their antennae.

This led researchers to consider whether they could be used to detect gases released by explosive substances such as TNT, DNT and ammonium nitrate.

In 2016, the US Office of Naval Research gave the funding to a team at Washington University