Japan will have insects carrying artificial brains

Police dropped a herd of butterflies in search of drugs in the box, the bees swarmed through the gap in the rubble to search for earthquake victims. These scenes may happen in Japan in the near future.

Historically, these facts have only appeared in fictional novels, but now they become targets of Japanese scientists. They are conducting many studies to be able to create insect-like brain machines and program them so they can perform specialized tasks.

Ryohei Kanzaki, a professor at the Center for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Tokyo (Japan), studied brainworms for 3 decades. He is considered one of the pioneering scientists in the field of cross between insects and machines.

Male moths can roll balls to the right, contrary to the smell of females.(Photo: AFP)

The human brain has about 100 billion neurons. They transmit signals and tell the body to respond to stimuli from the external environment. Insects have far fewer nerve cells than we do. For example, moths have only about 100,000 neurons in the brain that are only 2 mm wide.

But Kanzaki confirmed the size did not say anything. ' The tiny brain of insects can control complicated acrobatic movements, like catching prey while flying. Over hundreds of millions of years of evolution, insect brains have been comparable to the most advanced software available today. For example, male moths can smell the smell of females more than 1 km away from them , "he said.

Kanzaki hopes he will successfully develop artificial insect brain. ' Imagine the brain is like a jigsaw puzzle. We can rebuild the whole picture if we know how to rearrange the pieces. Reproduction of insect brains with electronic circuits is possible in the future. That achievement will lead to the ability to control a real brain by changing the microchips inside it , 'he explained.

Kanzaki's team has achieved some achievements in this area. They have successfully transformed the gene of a male moth so that it can detect females by light (rather than odor) or smell other butterflies .

The head of the male butterfly is placed in front of a toy car.Scientists use signals from nerve cells to control the vehicle to turn right and turn left.(Photo: AFP)

These changes will pave the way for the creation of machine insects capable of detecting drugs, mines, people buried under rubble, poison gas a few kilometers away.

In one experiment, Kanzaki and colleagues applied glue on the back of a male moth and attached it to the frame. They put the animal's foot on a small ball that can rotate freely in a hole. The team ordered it to rotate the ball to the right, as opposed to the smell of the female butterfly and it did.

Later, experts built a toy car with an automatic control unit. They cut the butterfly's head and put it in front of the car. An electrode is attached to the head to receive the signal. The other end of the electrode is attached to the automatic control unit. When the smell of female butterflies appears, the antennae in the male butterfly's brain are still detected. The signal emitted by nerve cells is transmitted through the electrode to the control unit. The car turned right and turned left in accordance with the team's order.

Kanzaki said that animals, like humans, were able to adapt very quickly to changes in their surroundings.

' People only reach speeds of about 5 km / h while walking but can drive cars at speeds of 100 km / h. Surprisingly, we can accelerate, brake and avoid obstacles in situations where we think there will be accidents. The human brain turns the car into an extension of the body. Insect brains can also drive cars like we do. We want to build machine insects that are more capable than real insects , 'Kanzaki added.