Could Bees Take Over From Sniffer Dogs?
We’ve relied on dogs’ noses for millennia, but can other animals take humans beyond the limits of our own senses? CrowdScience sniffs out answers to our listener Beth’s question.
Humans have used dogs' excellent sniffing talents ever since our ancestors figured out that canine companions could help them track down their next meal.
But what about other animals? Can they take us beyond the limits of our own senses? That's what CrowdScience listener Beth wants to know, so we obligingly try to sniff out some answers.
After immersing ourselves in the world of insect senses at our local zoo, we visit an insect lab in Germany to find out whether sniffer bees could take over from sniffer dogs. And could ants help us fly the drones of the future? We meet the scientists trying to turn ant vision into computer code, to send robots into places GPS can't reach.
Presenter: Nastaran Tavakoli-Far
Producer: Cathy Edwards
(Photo: A bee on a human finger. Credit: Getty Images)
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The robots that think like ants
Duration: 01:40
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How to train a bee
Duration: 02:05
Broadcasts
- Fri 2 Mar 201820:32GMTBBC World Service Online, Americas and the Caribbean, UK DAB/Freeview & Europe and the Middle East only
- Fri 2 Mar 201821:32GMTBBC World Service Australasia, South Asia & East Asia only
- Sat 3 Mar 201800:32GMTBBC World Service except Americas and the Caribbean & News Internet
- Mon 5 Mar 201805:32GMTBBC World Service except Australasia, East and Southern Africa, News Internet & West and Central Africa
- Mon 5 Mar 201807:32GMTBBC World Service Australasia & East and Southern Africa only
- Mon 5 Mar 201815:32GMTBBC World Service Australasia
- Mon 5 Mar 201818:32GMTBBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Tue 6 Mar 201803:32GMTBBC World Service West and Central Africa
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CrowdScience
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