You are here: silicon.com > Networks > LANs

LANs

Wasps get RFID-chipped

It's the new buzzword

Tags: rfid, wasp, wasps

By Jo Best

Published: 25 January 2007 15:45 GMT

Forget supply chains - wasps are the new frontier for RFID.

Scientists from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) have put RFID chips on the wasps' backs to help track their movements and investigate their behaviour.

The ZSL attached RFID readers to 33 nests of paper wasps and chips to the bodies of 422 female wasps, to find out why and how often wasps 'drift' from nest to nest. According to the society, the tags were "attached painlessly" to the insects.

The RFID readers located on the nests were then used to record how often the wasps entered and left the various locations.

Using the track-and-trace technology, the biologists found wasps drifted 31 times more than previously recorded, often to nests which contained their close relatives, where scientists believe they help to raise their relatives' offspring.

ZSL scientist and report author Seirian Sumner said of the project: "Drifting behaviour in social insects has always been rather difficult to quantify and a puzzle to explain. The 'mini-Oyster cards' have revealed a new level of understanding into this behaviour."

  1. Zones
  2. Management
  3. Networks
  4. Software
  5. IT Services
  6. Hardware
  1. Verticals
  2. Public Sector
  3. Financial Services
  4. Retail & Leisure

Peter Cochrane Peter Cochrane's Blog: How the telcos could save themselves Doomed network operators could thrive with a bit of innovation

Peter Cochrane Peter Cochrane's Blog: Facebook saves teen from prison Another unexpected impact of social networking


  • Jobs
Business Analyst (Credit Cards/Loans)

This exciting requirement is for experienced BA to help the society attain compliance with mandatory Lending guidelines, as provided by the Office of ...

75K to 135K base -BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR / MANAGER - EMEA

This is essentially a start-up environment suited to creative, entrepreneurial, self-starters demonstrating independent and proactive behaviour ...

C++ Equity Options Market Making Developer - High Frequency Prop Trading House - GREENFIELD DEVELOPMENT!!!!

Responsibilities will include:- ** Server side C++ development ** Deep understanding of low level details and implementation of NA exchange ...

Agenda Setters 2009
Welcome to the ninth annual Agenda Setters poll – silicon.com's list of the top 50 most influential individuals in the technology and IT industries, from techies and CIOs to entrepreneurs and business leaders. Find out more in our latest special report.





Quick Sitemap Links: