Beyond robo-bees: can technology really help stop the biodiversity crisis?
“The apple trees are starting to bloom, but no bees are buzzing among the flowers,” wrote Rachel Carson, 60 years ago, in the opening chapter Silent spring . He imagined a future city without birds, without insects, without flowers, only disease and death. The reason? Whole life has been poisoned by pesticides. But what if, instead of babbling bees, there were hundreds of babbling drones in place – using artificial intelligence to do the job of pollinating apple trees? Renowned US conservationist and author’s hunch on pesticide-induced climate damage where pollinators no longer roam is getting closer and closer. Can technology offer a solution to our growing biodiversity crisis? Oftentimes headlines will scream about the arrival of robo-bees, with visions of a dystopian future where drones, not insects, ‘buzz’ from flower to flower. In 2018 the University of West Virginia in the US developed the BrambleBee, which pollinates plants using a robotic arm. Israeli technology company