Something is killing off up to half of America’s bees–terrible news for bees and the vegetation that depends on them for pollination. Fewer bees not only means less honey, it means less food. Researchers at Harvard are working on a partial solution — tiny drones the size of bees (not to be confused with drone bees, the mostly useless males of a bee colony).
The robo-bees aren’t ready for prime time yet. Because they’re so tiny, they can’t fit a battery pack for power. The bees will also need some sort of computer so they can guide themselves in flight. Right now, there’s no onboard guidance mechanism–again, they just don’t have the real estate.