Thread by @weatherindia

#BombSniffingLocusts | Scientists Hijack Insects’ Olfactory System to Create Explosive-Detecting Cyborgs

weather.com/en-IN/india/sc…

By @kun5k

#LocustsAttack | Ginormous swarms of locusts invaded parts of north and central India this summer in record-breaking numbers, destroying vegetation and disrupting lives in a country that was already under a nationwide lockdown.

(📸: Bhagirath/BCCL Jaipur)

Be it biblical ages or modern times, locusts have been perceived as evil, demonic beings that only leave a path of destruction behind.

However, that very perception could not only improve, but also turn on its head thanks to a new study, wherein a group of researchers has managed to transform these insects from all-devouring pests to bomb-sniffing biorobots.

Researchers from the Washington University in St. Louis, USA have successfully managed to hijack a locust's olfactory system to get the insect to detect as well as discriminate between different explosive scents—all within a few hundred milliseconds of exposure.

However, Raman and his fellow researchers were able to optimise a previously developed biorobotic sensing system that could detect the locusts' firing neurons and convey that information in a way that told researchers about the smells the locusts were sensing.

Using this data, the researchers were able to observe similar patterns when they exposed the locusts to vapours of a chemically diverse set of explosives, including TNT, DNT, RDX, PETN, and ammonium nitrate.

(📸: Raman Lab)

But to seek out a bomb, just the ability to detect and discriminate between different explosives isn’t enough; a locust would also have to know from which direction the odour is emanating.

Finally, the researchers optimised the system for transmitting the locusts' brain activity by attaching electrodes in a way that didn't hinder their movement.

With the new instrumentation in place, the neuronal activity of a locust exposed to an explosive smell was resolved into a discernible odour-specific pattern within 500 milliseconds.