---
title: "Bomb-Sniffing Cyborg Locusts? Bomb-Sniffing Cyborg Locusts."
description: "Scientists found a way to turn locusts into explosives-sniffing cyborgs according to a study funded by the U.S. Navy. Yes, bomb-sniffing cyborg locusts."
date: "2020-02-14"
modified: "2020-02-14"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/bomb-sniffing-cyborg-locusts"
categories:
  - "Robots and Machines"
tags:
  - "cyborg"
  - "cyborg locust"
  - "the digest"
---

# Bomb-Sniffing Cyborg Locusts? Bomb-Sniffing Cyborg Locusts.

![Scientists found a way to turn locusts into explosives-sniffing cyborgs according to a study funded by the U.S. Navy. Yes, bomb-sniffing cyborg locusts.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/bomb-sniffing-cyborg-locusts.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Baran Lab\</em\>*

## Cyborg Organism

Scientists have, yes, found a way to turn locusts into explosives-sniffing cyborgs, according to a study funded by the U.S. Navy. The idea is to "hijack" the insects' incredible sense of smell rather than coming up with an artificial detection method from scratch.

The [paper](<https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.02.10.940866v1.full.pdf>) uploaded to preprint archive BioRxiv earlier this month describes how the team from Washington University in St. Louis transformed the unsuspecting insects into "biorobots" by implanting electrodes into their brains.

The Office of Naval Research in the US [granted](<https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-36702704>) the team $750,000 back in 2016 to conduct the research.

## Hijacking Senses

By examining which neurons were firing when different chemicals and odors were detected by the bugs' senses, they found that these signals provided "a unique multivariate fingerprint" that allowed the locusts to distinguish between explosive vapors and non-explosive chemicals, according to the paper's abstract.

According to the team's paper, it's the first time a biological system used for smelling was successfully "hijacked to develop a cyborg chemical sensing approach."

To get the locusts to go where the team wanted them to go, they placed them in tiny wheeled robots that could be driven around.

And the locusts were extremely adept at spotting the explosives. It took them only "a few hundred milliseconds of exposure" to recognize explosive vapors.

**READ MORE:** [Bomb-Sniffing Cyborg Locusts Can Now Successfully Detect Explosives](<https://onezero.medium.com/bomb-sniffing-cyborg-locusts-can-now-successfully-detect-explosives-3bb0bc25959e>) \[*OneZero*\]

**More on cyborg animals:** *[“Cyborg-Like” Earthworm Controls Microchip With Its Muscles](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/cyborg-earthworm-microchip-muscles>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)