Science has given us many things over the last couple of centuries. The lightbulb, the automobile, the Thermomix. But friends, now we present to you, the single greatest scientific achievement the world has ever known.
A MOTH DRIVING A TINY CAR. LOOK AT IT. FUCKEN LOOK.
Holy SHIT that’s some good science. Look at him go! He’s like a tiny moth Postman Pat, delivering nothing but good times to all. Christ, this is exciting. We can do anything, you guys.
I know what you’re thinking. Why in the name of heck are scientists putting silkworm moths in the driver’s seat of a tiny robot vehicle? Smells, my dude. They’re doing it because of smells.
Believe it or not, our hero is using his keen sense of moth smell to drive the car. By walking on his adorable little treadmill in the direction of the sexy smell of female sex pheromones, sensors use that directional data to move the car in the same line.
The immense weirdos at the Research Centre for Advanced Science and Technology at The University of Tokyo reckon they can use moth cars for all kinds of smell related things like drug detection or finding chemical leaks. There’s a long way to go from here, though. Right now the moth just wants to get laid.
In the meantime, here’s how well the little fellas did, according to Science Magazine. Enjoy!
“Across seven trials with seven different drivers, the insects piloted the vehicle consistently toward the pheromones, nearly as well as 10 other silkworm moths who could walk freely on the ground toward the smells, the researchers reported last month in the Journal of Visualized Experiments.On average, the driving moths reached their target about 2 seconds behind the walking moths, although their paths were more circuitous.”
Source: Gizmodo.
Photo: Science Magazine.
