Chinese scientists create first cyborg bee with world's lightest brain controller
bees carry nectar sacks weighing 80 per cent of their body mass. When airborne, they tuck their hind legs like landing gear to cut wind drag.
And they can fly 5km (3 miles) with no need for rest, an example of how
nature's genius shames human
machinery
Until now.
At Beijing Institute of Technology, Professor Zhao Jieliang's team has built the world's lightest insect brain controller. At 74 milligrams, it is lighter than a sack of nectar.
Strapped to the bee's back, the device pierces its brain with three needles. It creates illusions with electronic pulses to command flight: turn left, turn right, advance, retreat.
Nine out of 10 times, the bee obeyed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
8 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
China's cyber nationalists target maths star Hong Wang over lectures in English
It was a golden opportunity for academic exchange when Chinese mathematician Hong Wang , a contender for a top award, gave lectures at universities in Beijing last month, but instead her overseas experience and use of English made her an unexpected victim of rising nationalism in China. The 34-year-old mathematician earned global attention last year when a paper she co-authored solved the three-dimensional Kakeya conjecture – a century-old problem in geometric measure theory. The study, with implications for imaging, data processing, cryptography and wireless communication, makes her a leading contender for the Fields Medal, regarded as the Nobel Prize of mathematics. Winners of the prize, awarded every four years, will be announced next year. Wang was born in the southern city of Guilin. She graduated from Peking University then completed a postgraduate degree in France and a doctorate in the US. She is now an associate professor at the New York University Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. She will join Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques near Paris as a permanent professor of mathematics starting in September, according to an announcement in May. Last month, she gave seminars on her research at Peking University, Beijing International Centre for Mathematical Research, Capital Normal University, Tsinghua University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, with every venue full and bustling with attendees.
South China Morning Post
8 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
What are China's ‘future industries'? And why they matter in the global tech race
As the dust barely settles on 'Made in China 2025' , Beijing is intensifying its quest for technological supremacy with a focus on 'future industries' amid its escalating rivalry with the United States. Authorities are pushing boundaries in their pursuit of a new growth model centred on technological breakthroughs and industrial upgrades. What are 'future industries'? First introduced by President Xi Jinping in 2020, the term refers to sectors with foundational technologies still in their infancy but expected to possess enormous potential. The 2021-25 Five-Year Plan highlighted brain-inspired intelligence, quantum information, gene technology, future networks, deep-sea and aerospace development and hydrogen energy and storage as areas where China aims to secure an early lead. That list is now expanding, as the government gradually adds new priority sectors. In 2024, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) released guidelines identifying target areas including humanoid robots, 6G network equipment, brain-computer interfaces, large-scale AI data centres and next-generation large aircraft.
South China Morning Post
8 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
A few small steps for Hong Kong, a giant leap for China's space sector
The idea that Hong Kong could play a leading role in the global space economy was greeted with scepticism when I raised the possibility with Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu earlier this month. However, critics fail to realise that space technologies have permeated many aspects of our lives – from checking the weather and ordering our meals on our mobile phones to navigating our daily commutes and settling stock transactions in real time. A report published by the American consultancy firm McKinsey in 2024 forecast that the space economy will grow at a much faster rate than the global economy and will reach US$1.8 trillion by 2035, up from US$630 billion in 2023. Space is no longer the exclusive domain of state-led space missions. New interest in space travel, space manufacturing, the mining of critical resources from the moon, Mars, asteroids and the launch of small satellites and mega constellations in low Earth orbit has fuelled a boom in investing in space-related hardware and software, including in China. The China Research and Development Institute estimates that, in 2025, private investment in the aerospace industry will have risen from 12 per cent of aggregate investment in 2020 to 45 per cent in 2025. The skyrocketing of private investment in aerospace industries is catapulted by technological advancement, lower manufacturing costs and state support for the private sector. Stellar examples of private aerospace enterprises include the Beijing-based company i-Space, also known as Space Honor, a manufacturer of satellite orbital launchers. The company is the first private aerospace company in China to put a rocket into orbit. LandSpace, also based in Beijing, is another success story. The company is the maker of the Zhuque-2 rocket, the first launch vehicle fuelled by methane and liquid oxygen to reach orbit.
