A recent development in science has really stirred the pot, especially for netizens. According to a press release by Wageningen University, scientists in the Netherlands have trained bees to detect COVID through their sense of smell. Yup, you heard that right!
The goal was achieved by rewarding 150 bees with a sugar and water solution. So every time the bees were successful in detecting COVID-19, they received the reward. It became habitual for them to stick out their tongues to receive the sugar-water concoction, every time they succeeded, so eventually, they began sticking out their tongues each time they detected the virus.
In today’s update of bizarre technological advancements, bees are in the limelight. Yes, that’s right. Researchers from Dutch startup InsectSense and Wageningen University & Research (WUR) devised an unusual method for detecting COVID-19. pic.twitter.com/LGTD4R6mLu
— Fossbytes (@fossbytes14) May 7, 2021
The news report received hilarious reactions on Twitter though, because honestly…..what is the hype about? Take a look!
Unbeelievable
— Mark (@The_Wisco_Hawk) May 7, 2021
For what purpose?
— Let’s Ride (@EGriff92171757) May 7, 2021
https://t.co/GYUTtcjKDs pic.twitter.com/Tpbv9YWmHX
— Kendra Hicks (@hicks4district6) May 8, 2021
This is idiotic. We need bees to pollinate; NOT as some test animal for Covid. Just STOP IT.
— Hope Barrett 🎨🥃 (@AuthorwAttitude) May 7, 2021
“Do you want to get tested for the coronavirus? Bees are involved.” pic.twitter.com/2nU3RDfU7B
— Filmmaking in 2021 (@Filmmaking_2021) May 7, 2021
Can the same scientists train humans to be kind?
— P. (@PanaPao13) May 7, 2021
They were gonna use snakes, but they’re kind of all over the place w tongue movement. So they thought which other animal, that ppl are afraid of, can we use.
— 💉RoseWinkler Vaccinated🗽🌿⚘🦋🦚🌸🏵💮 (@RoseWinkler) May 7, 2021
Didn’t like a swab up your nose? Well here’s our new bee
— Church.of.Elon (@ChurchofElon1) May 7, 2021
Wait — bees have TONGUES?!
— Avenging Angel (@AvengingAngel21) May 7, 2021
That’s funny…when I detect cheese nearby I do the same thing
— Sal 🏳️🌈📸🇬🇧🇳🇿🎞 (@fotosbysal) May 7, 2021
Even good news is bad news
— dﾷﾷϺҌﾷȚ ∆ (@drktwsty) May 7, 2021
For those of us allergic to bee stings, what?
— Marg K (@acerbic_comic) May 7, 2021
Brett… pic.twitter.com/tLLMbuRyrW
— Rachel Thorn (@rachel_thorn_en) May 7, 2021
“So I said to the guy, ‘yeah bees can totally detect covid with their tongue’ and I shot a few pics of a bee with a swab I doused in mountain dew!”
— Livingunderarock (@Livingunderaro6) May 8, 2021
“Nice! Good one, Carl” pic.twitter.com/pLp9IyK9XH
— hobbitseeker 🌷 MSW, LICSW (@hobbitseeker) May 8, 2021
How BEES-arre!