Honeybees as a model for the study of visually guided flight, navigation and biologically inspired robotics

Research over the past century has revealed the impressive capacities of the honeybee, Apis mellifera, in relation to visual perception, flight guidance, navigation, and learning and memory. These observations, coupled with the relative ease with which these creatures can be trained, and the relative simplicity of their nervous systems, have made honeybees an attractive model in which to pursue general principles of sensorimotor function in a variety of contexts, many of which pertain not just to honeybees, but several other animal species, including humans. This review begins by describing the principles of visual guidance that underlie perception of the world in three dimensions, obstacle avoidance, control of flight speed, and orchestrating smooth landings. We then consider how navigation over long distances is accomplished, with particular reference to how bees use information from the celestial compass to determine their flight bearing, and information from the movement of the environment in their eyes to gauge how far they have flown. Finally, we illustrate how some of the principles gleaned from these studies are now being used to design novel, biologically inspired algorithms for the guidance of unmanned aerial vehicles

Causes and Consequences of Increasing Herbicide Use in Mali

This paper examines the origins and impact of rapid recent growth of herbicide use in Mali. Primary data come from interviews with herbicide importers and distributors in major markets across Mali and from a 2014/15 survey of 700 farm households in Mali’s Sudanian Savanna zone. Results suggest that a series of major supply-side innovations are driving growth in Mali’s herbicide markets, most conspicuously a proliferation in the number of herbicide brands marketed, a shift to low-cost suppliers in China and India, and consequently falling herbicide prices. At the farm level, herbicides cost on average 50% less than hiring weeding labor. Despite low econometric estimates of damage abatement, herbicide adoption rates reach 25% in remote rural zones and 75% in more accessible rural areas. Key factors affecting adoption include spatial variation in herbicide prices and rural wage rates. At current rates, herbicide usage reduces peak season rural labor demand by 20%

Adult learning in veterinary education: theory to practice

This paper argues the case for the Increased application of adult learning principles to veterinary education. It encapsulates evidence from the United Kingdom, Europe, North America, and Australia to explain why it has taken veterinary schools so long to transform their curricula to best facilitate the development of lifelong learning skills, such as Independent and self-directed learning, problem solving, and critical thinking. Despite the variation in training programs In these different regions, the paper identifies common Issues-conflicting educational paradigms and the need for faculty development-and ultimately concludes that professional and continuing education should be viewed as a continuous process, supporting the adult learner's cognitive development and facilitated through experiential learnin