A bee-like robot currently under development at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is part of a new generation of bots inspired by creepy crawlies.

The machine, which weighs less than a paperclip, can flap its wings up to 400 times a second and has achieved a maximum speed of two meters (6.5 feet) per second. It can also flip and hover.

“We’re just trying to mimic these amazing maneuvers that bumblebees can achieve,” says Yi-Hsuan “Nemo” Hsiao, a fourth-year PhD student who is working on the robots.

Researchers hope that it could someday help with tasks like artificial pollination, maybe even on other planets.

“If you’re going to grow something on Mars, you probably don’t want to bring a lot of natural insects to do the pollination,” says Hsiao. “That’s where our robot cou

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