Sticky gels turn insect-sized drones into artificial pollinators
Thursday, February 9, 2017 - 14:32
in Biology & Nature
As bees slip onto the endangered species lists, researchers in Japan are pollinating lilies with insect-sized drones. 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. The drones' designers are hopeful that their invention could someday help carry the burden that modern agricultural demand has put on colonies.