Schmickl, who now leads the Artificial Life Lab at the University of Graz in Austria, wasn't wrong. Studies in various parts of the world have since found that insect populations are declining or changing. After working in the field of swarm robotics for several years--using nature to inspire robots--Schmickl decided to flip his work around and design robots to help nature, a concept he calls ecosystem hacking. Honeybees and other pollinators face habitat loss, pesticide exposure, and other challenges, and Schmickl believes that coming to their aid could help strengthen entire ecosystems. Already, some companies offer augmented beehives that monitor conditions inside, or even robotically tend the bees.

An interdisciplinary workshop on self-organization and swarm intelligence in cyber physical systems was held at Lakeside Labs this week. Experts presented their work and discussed open issues in this exciting field. "Our crazyswarm is the largest indoor drone swarm that I'm aware of," Nora Ayanian states. The assistant professor from the Viterbi School of Engineering at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles was recently described by MIT Technology Review to be one of "35 innovators under 35." She came to Klagenfurt to expound her latest results on multirobot coordination.