12/27/05 Wasp sniffers

Dogs noses are amazing, that is why they are so valuable in uncovering drugs and bombs but dogs take a long time to train, so researchers have been looking for a critter that would have the sniffer of a dog but the capacity for quicker training. Obviously not a cat! What about a bug. We all know bees have the uncanny ability to find a picnic, so scientist are banking that bees, more specifically wasps, can be trained to find special odors. Titled Wasp Hound, the research, taking place at the university level looks promising. Entomologist have trained sting-less wasps to find land mines, now they want them to sniff out drugs. The applications for insects appear endless, they are cheap to produce and could be used to find bodies, explosives, and even detect insect invasion or toxins on crops. Using Pavlov Theory wasps are rewarded sugar water. These little buggers can work as long as 48 hours then they are given their freedom. I hope it is not in my back yard, last thing I need is to be buzzed by a smart bee. Source: ENN>com 12/05/05 Wasps could replace Bomb, drug dogs