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One of the problems with keeping certain substances out of countries is the difficulty of detecting them. Explosives, drugs and other contraband are being hidden in increasingly sophisticated ways.
Bees, and especially wasps, are extraordinarily good at discerning minute traces of odours. Training
them to associate certain odours with rewards is also very simple.
The wasps used need not be threatening. There are about 7000 species of wasps, most of which are closely allied to certain fruit trees, particularly certain Ficus species.
Having a small colony of fig wasps living in an airport terminal may be the easiest way we've ever devised, to locate otherwise invisible explosives and banned substances.
Trained Wasps
http://www.theallin...iology/06011718.htm
[jurist, Nov 11 2006, last modified Nov 12 2006]
More About How Scientists Train Sniffer Wasps
http://www.telegrap...ixconnrite0102.html
[jurist, Nov 11 2006]
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Hang on: training them is simple. Really? It certainly conjurs up interesting scenes. "Yes, well, we discovered that if we continually phone the wasps up until they study for the requisite exam, they pass with flying colours. We get a few lazy ones that simply refuse to differentiate explosives from fruit, instead falling back on their instinctive encoded behaviour, but we have ways of dealing with lazy wasps". |
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I love insects, so much that I'm coming
back as one if I'm ever born again - I'm
thinking something lazy that gets a lot
of attention, like the head termite in a
large colony.......and for this idea? - a
roach attracting croissant of course + |
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Neat idea. I imagine seeing the wasps mulling around will also help encourage the sense of slight paranoia, vague guilt and unfocused fear that plays its part in any good going-through-customs experience. (Or is that just me?) + |
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//We get a few lazy ones that simply refuse to differentiate explosives from fruit, instead falling back on their instinctive encoded behaviour, but we have ways of dealing with lazy wasps.// |
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Yep, sell them to New Zealand airports, for sniffing out undeclared fruit. |
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Bugger. I had this idea when I read about how some fig wasps can detect concentrations of chemicals lower than one part in 100 million. The article also dealt with the fact that some of them have learned to get the hell out of the place when they detect airborne scent of pesticides. |
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Thanks for the link, [jurist]. |
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I had this image of a drug mule, being mobbed by a swarm of wasps, hanging around his butt, sniffing the cocaine that was coming through his farts, after leaching through the condoms in his gut. |
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Thank you. I am still unsure whether it's as simple as it seems, but wasps will react to training very quickly, both to visual and olfactory stimuli, from what I've been able to glean. |
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They're certainly a lot less obvious than a dog, and far better at sniffing out chemicals masked under other smells. |
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//some of them have learned to get the hell out of the place when they detect airborne scent of pesticides// |
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So... the smuggler covers him/herself in bug repellant and the wasps don't go anywhere near the stuff they're supposed to be sniffing. How is this supposed to work in tropical or otherwise humid areas where people frequently cover themselves in OFF?? You can't outlaw bug repellent. |
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The wasps learn the responses over time. Perhaps inset repellant would be an effective deterrent, but would fail when wasps areused in conjunction with, say, a dog. |
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I suppose it's not a bad idea... if used in conjunction with dogs... but I really hate the idea of driving away from a Customs inspection and finding a few stray wasps in my vehicle. Sorry, UB, but I gotta stay neutral on this. I've always had a strong phobia of wasps. Bees, I can handle. Hornets? No problem. yellow-jackets? Bring 'em on! Wasps...? Sorry, no can do. |
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Whats stopping the wasps going into a murderous rage and stining people. NOt a very good things if you're allergic to them |
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My friend caught a bee once. He froze it, tied a piece of string round it, and then let it thaw out naturally. Bee on a string. |
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In Soviet Russia, wasp is new black. |
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The logical extension of this idea is to not just train wasps, but to selectively breed them so that, after 1000 generations, they're born with an in-built ability to sniff out drugs and explosives. |
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Perhaps if the stingers were removed...? Can you remove a wasp's stinger without killing it? |
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I had no idea these things were being
done with wasps! Who knew wasps were
more than just creepy & sleek-looking?
Brilliant. |
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//So... the smuggler covers him/herself in bug repellant and the wasps don't go anywhere near the stuff they're supposed to be sniffing. How is this supposed to work in tropical or otherwise humid areas where people frequently cover themselves in OFF?? You can't outlaw bug repellent.// |
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Why not? They stopped allowing passengers to take sodas and toothpaste on airlines... |
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Even if you can't spraying oneself with insect repellant on a regular basis, despite what the packaging says, is quite unhealthy. |
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How about sweat bees? from what I understand they are actually a type of stingless wasp. Can they be trained? |
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"The wasps are not capable of stinging humans, the scientists say." (From the first link.) |
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Thank you, [imaginality]. It always does my heart a bit of good when someone actually reads the links. |
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Most wasps are less than 1/8 of an inch long, and incapable of stinging humans. If you don't know what fig wasps are then it might be an idea to look them up before you run around shouting that the sky is falling. |
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Where was this in the news, [bigsleep]? |
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UB, I did not read the link first, and I apologize for my comment after having now done so. It was out of context, but even knowing that the things cannot sting me really doesn't help. Phobias are, after all, defined as irrational fears. And I am quite phobic of wasps. |
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//Even if you can't spraying oneself with insect repellant on a regular basis, despite what the packaging says, is quite unhealthy.// |
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I can't help but think that the smugglers might not be dettered by this. |
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I've already discussed the MFD option, [Lt Frank]. We decided not to, because it wasn't really an option for Customs enforcement and though there was found to be some research on the subject, no prior art. In fact, I was the one who posted then deleted my own MFD. |
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I have seen some research on bees being attracted to explosive in land mines, or maybe that was something we proposed here. I can't remember. |
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How do you prevent the wasps from getting high? They tend to consume the items that they are attracted to. If you leave an open soda outside, the wasps will come and drink the soda. If you let them near the drugs, you might have a group of wasps enter the luggage and never come back out. |
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