Science Fiction Dictionary
A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

 

Tiny Drones With Sticky Feet Pollinate Flowers Now

Is there anything those clever drones can't do? Now, they can pollinate flowers, thanks to sticky feet like insects have.


(Flying drone picks up pollen from friendly flower)

The undersides of these artificial pollinators are coated with horse hairs and an ionic gel just sticky enough to pick up pollen from one flower and deposit it onto another. Far from replacing bees, the drones' designers are hopeful that their invention could someday help carry the burden that modern agricultural demand has put on colonies and in turn benefit farmers. The work appears February 9 in the journal Chem.

The gel used for the artificial pollinators was the result of an experiment gone wrong. In 2007, senior author Eijiro Miyako, a chemist at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) Nanomaterial Research Institute, was working to make liquids that could be used as electrical conductors. One of his attempts generated a gel as sticky as hair wax, which he considered a failure. After a decade of sitting in a storage cabinet in an uncapped bottle, it was rediscovered unchanged during a lab cleanup. Inspired by concerns over honeybees and news reports on robotic insects, Miyako began to explore, by using houseflies and ants, whether the gel could work to pick up pollen.

"This project is the result of serendipity," says Miyako, who worked with postdoctoral fellow and first author Svetlana Chechetka. "We were surprised that after 8 years, the ionic gel didn't degrade and was still so viscous. Conventional gels are mainly made of water and can't be used for a long time, so we decided to use this material for research."

This sounds like a job for the amazing little "scarab" drone, the robot protagonist in Raymond Z. Gallun's astounding 1936 story The Scarab:

The Scarab rubbed its hind legs together, as flies will do when at rest. Then, apparently satisfied that it was in condition, it unfolded the coleoptera-like plates over its wings. With a buzz that any uninformed person would have mistaken for that of a beetle, it started out on its journey...
(Read more about the scarab robot flying insect)

Via PhysOrg.

Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 2/5/2017)

Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.

| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |

Would you like to contribute a story tip? It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add it here.

Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )

Related News Stories - (" Robotics ")

RoboBallet The Dance Of Cooperative Robots
'...an integrated seven-unit robot team.' - Isaac Asimov, 1944.

Does CloneRobotics Offer A True Android?
Is this What Little Girls Are Made Of?

Robots Repair And Modify Themselves
'The overworked leg motor would have to cool down before he could work on it...' Harry Harrison, 1956.

Robot Janitors Get To Work
'A few mechanical cleaning devices crept here and there...'- Philip K. Dick, 1957.

 

Google
  Web TechNovelgy.com   

Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.

 

 

 

 

Science Fiction Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's   1950's
1960's   1970's
1980's   1990's
2000's   2010's

Current News

RoboBallet The Dance Of Cooperative Robots
'...an integrated seven-unit robot team.'

Chrysalis Generation Ship to Alpha Centauri
'This was their world, their planet — this swift-traveling, yet seemingly moveless vessel.'

Alexa+ And Its AI Brain Improvements
'What's it do?' he asked. 'It amuses.'

Does CloneRobotics Offer A True Android?
Is this What Little Girls Are Made Of?

Brain Implant Is Able To Capture Your Inner Dialogue
'So you see, you can hide nothing from me.'

Are AIs Going Rogue Like Hal 9000
'I know that you and Frank were planning to disconnect me...'

Animated Tumblebugs On Astounding Cover!
'Gaines and Harvey mounted tumblebugs, and kept abreast of the Cadet Captain...'

LingYuan Vehicle Roof Drones Now Available, ala Blade Runner 2049
Accompanied by a small selection of similar ideas from science fiction.

China Steals Strato Airship Design From Google App Engine
'...war-balloons, or, as it would be more correct to call them, navigable aerostats.'

The First Space Warship For Space Force
'Each of the electrical ships carried about twenty men...'

Biohybrid Jellyfish Explore The Ocean
As predicted, and detailed, by science fiction writers!

Should AIs and AI Robots Demand Rights?
'This robot is a creature... It is a manlike being. Therefore, like any other talking, thinking man, he is entitled to a court trial!'

Robot Learns Human Tool Usage By Imitation Learning
'I got one of those new electronic cameras...'

Companion Caregiver ChatGPT Dolls
'Every Artificial Friend is unique, right?'

'Pregnancy Humanoids' From China Replace Moms
'A great many of these synthetic babies were made...'

Man Builds 200 Foot Basement Firing Range
'The basement was huge... carved deep into the rock.'

More SF in the News Stories

More Beyond Technovelgy science news stories

Home | Glossary | Invention Timeline | Category | New | Contact Us | FAQ | Advertise |
Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™

Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved.