NASA wants to send a swarm of robotic bees to Mars to sniff out signs of life on the Red Planet.
The insect-droids, dubbed "Marsbees", are the size of regular bees only with supersized wings designed to give them sufficient lift to fly in the Martian atmosphere, which is about one percent as thick as Earth's.
Developed by US and Japanese scientists, the bees will pack sensors and communication devices that will send the images and measurements they pick up to teams on Earth.
Their job could involve flapping over the planet's surface to map terrains, taking samples from hard-to-reach crannies and crevices, and even looking for signs of life, such as methane emissions.
Which means the droids will be doing every thing a Nasa probe like the costly Curiosity Rover does now at a fraction of the price.
They'll also do it all at a much faster pace, thanks to their sprightly movements.
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