Drone seeking a scent uses antenna moths to follow the smell

A drone equipped with an antenna from male moths can more precisely locate a source of odor than any electric sensor. Unfortunately, however, the only scent it can detect is the sexual pheromon that emit female moths.

Electric fragrance sensors are usually used to detect gas leaks, but they are relatively slow to react to odors, and even slower to reset between measurements, he says Daigo Terutsuki at the University of Shinshu, Japan. “It is very difficult to apply to …