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When Locusts Attack

Robert Coulthard writes: "http://biology.queensu.ca/~dawsonj/LocustCar/index.html You've got to check this out!!! A friend of mine has designed a car that he hooks a locust up to. The little critter actually drives it! There's some pretty cool videos on the site that shows the thing in action." Somewhere, there's a member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Insects getting all riled up.

135 comments

  1. Re:I forsee... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    whaddaya mean, future? i drive that way already!

  2. Re:That's twisted by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Don't worry about PETA, worry about the Animal Defense Miltia. "America's only non-neutered animal rights grou - 100% pansy free." It's all fun and games 'till the ADM's secret services go after you.

  3. Re:Laptops by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Finally, you can make bugs work to your advantage!
    Redmond will be investing in this new innovation soon. Locust 2001 Swarms on computer stores.

  4. Man, you guys are behind! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Virginia Tech has done this quite a while ago (1997) only with a cockroach instead. http://quixote.ece.vt.edu/ ece news/aug97/roachcar.html

    1. Re:Man, you guys are behind! by emiumilb · · Score: 1

      smartass.

  5. Re:Not only them... by cduffy · · Score: 2

    Would they?

    Can't speak for anyone else... but I'd lose my legs if it would save lives.

  6. Yup, a keychain. by cduffy · · Score: 2

    Read the article -- apparently a keychain's jingle includes ultrasound compotents to which they were testing the locust's response. They didn't expect it to be attracted rather than repelled, though.

  7. Re:locusts driving cars? by sjames · · Score: 2

    Is this how prostheses work nowadays anyway? Say you just lost your hand. Your brain still sends impulses to that missing hand as though it were there. You can slap a few electrodes on your stump and re-learn how to control a new fake hand.

    More or less, but the interface is primitive at best. Typically, the hand can be opened and closed and the wrist rotated. While the better ones can apply user controled variable pressure, there's no feedback. A direct connect could allow for independant fingers, finer control and some sensory feedback. Part of that depends on improved understanding of how nerve impulse characteristics translate into sensation and movement.

  8. Re:I forsee... by sjames · · Score: 2

    because in the future we will steer our cars by clenching our butt cheeks left and right.

    That could add a whole new world of meaning to 'silent but deadly'

  9. Re:locusts driving cars? by sjames · · Score: 2

    There is feedback, with the newer prosthetics they can feel temperature differences, they can also feel differing textures of objects.

    I've seen the ones that give temperature feedback, I hadn't seen the ones that give texture feedback. Can they give pressure feedback as well?

  10. A lot of science is done for fun. by Derek+Pomery · · Score: 2

    That doesn't mean legitimate research isn't being done.
    In the case of this article, the researchers said that it is to study the insect's reaction to ultra low frequencies. I would imagine the car makes the insect move in a sufficiently slow and obvious fashion for humans to observe.

    Did you notice that, contrary to their expectations, the locust moved *towards* the jangling keys?

    Things like that could be important, given how much of a menace locusts are in some parts of the world.

    --
    -- perl -e'print pack"H*","6e656d6f406d38792e6f7267"' /. ate my old sig. Bastards.
  11. Global warming by Pseudonymus+Bosch · · Score: 2

    I was concerned about what would happen to our environment if every Chinese would be given a car.

    Now I am concerned about locusts!
    __

    --
    __
    Men with no respect for life must never be allowed to control the ultimate instruments of death.
    GW Bu
  12. Re:Not only them... by Troy+Roberts · · Score: 2

    I think your reaction is a little strang. People regularly spray poisons to kill locus. They are killed by the millions. People step on them, swat them, ..... kill them in a myriad of ways. and what you want to complain about is a couple of guys having fun and doing research. Well, more power to you, but I think there are many more important things to worry about.

    Troy

  13. Re:Not only them... by pqbon · · Score: 1

    I saw the picture and read the article... it seams the only thing they did to the bug was run some wire through it and max it to a stand... No where did I notice any indication that the wings were gone...

    "... That probably would have sounded more commanding if I wasn't wearing my yummy sushi pajamas..."

  14. Re:Sad by pen · · Score: 2
    Lighten up! They're jokes. Do you get this worked up when someone tells you a joke that portrays all lawyers as greedy and insensitive? You shouldn't get offended at these unless they are actually meant to be offensive.

    --

  15. Not only them... by Angst+Badger · · Score: 5
    Somewhere, there's a member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Insects getting all riled up.

    Well, I think a lot of the stances taken by PETA are silly, but this does seem a little mean in the sense of kid-pulling-wings-off-fly mean. If there's a legitimate scientific goal ---

    And... if you're wondering why... M.E.L. was built for the fun of it.

    --- but in this case, there's not. Maiming animals for fun, even a lowly insect, is the kind of uncool behavior that makes it difficult for real scientists with legitimate and worthy goals to perform research. It's getting hard enough to perform experiments for things like life-saving medical research without thoughtless boobs like these autogenerating propaganda for the more reactionary elements within the animal rights movements.

    --

    --
    Proud member of the Weirdo-American community.
    1. Re:Not only them... by Richy_T · · Score: 2
      I don't think the bug gives a rats ass whether or not you think it's justified to rip it apart. If ripping your legs off could be to the benefit of 'legitimate life-saving medical research', would you let them?

      Well, unless there's some more weirdy experiments in wiring insects up to web browsers, I don't think the poster was a bug so your question is absurd.

      Rich

    2. Re:Not only them... by Richy_T · · Score: 2
      Except I wouldn't call "Not in my species" arbitrary.

      Rich

  16. Re:What's the guy holding in his hand? by Virgil · · Score: 1

    I've got a theory as to why it turned into the keys. Bear with me. This poor insect finally reallized that he would never be the same again. Think of the thoughts going through its mind: "These giant alien monsters PULLED OFF MY LEGS! Now I am all wired up like some kind of freak from the Matrix sequel. Wait - is that a bat! I can end it all now! Goodbye cruel world!"

  17. PETA would be upset by Barbarian · · Score: 3

    From this recent kuro5hin discussion, PETA themselves would get upset about this.

    Err, I guess the PETA we're talking about is here.

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  18. Bird in a model airplane by ch-chuck · · Score: 2

    I've always wanted to build a radio control model airplane, preferably with an electric motor, and somehow strap in (comfortably) a parakeet, and fly it around. Talk about putting legs on a snake...

    --
    try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
  19. That's twisted by qnonsense · · Score: 2

    That's really some twisted stuff. Don't tell PETA.

    --
    There comes a time in every man's life when he must say, "No mother! I do not want any more Jell-O!"
    1. Re:That's twisted by nbot · · Score: 1

      i dont think locusts count as a Tasty Animal :)

      --
      -nbot
    2. Re:That's twisted by texbig · · Score: 1

      Thanks for letting know about what is the BEST Animal Rights Satire site around. A great "time waster" :-)!!!!

  20. Matrix 2 by Felinoid · · Score: 1

    They find out not only are they NOT batterys but they are NOT human.
    The each one of them represents THOUSANDS of locusts connected together as a massive computers driving cars.
    The artifical environment keeps them together and the "agents" are software defects...
    Our herros get swished by a big boot...

    --
    I don't actually exist.
    1. Re:Matrix 2 by Richy_T · · Score: 1
      Hah, if I could. I'd mod this up.

      Rich

  21. Re:I can't help but see the irony. by WzDD · · Score: 1

    Bah, completely missed the point. If they all they wanted to do was to restrict the locust's movement to two dimensions they could have done it much quicker and more economically by ripping its wings off. What's more ironic about this story is that for all the advances in electronics, the best way to make a machine that can reliably steer itself is to hook an insect up to it. Nature is still better at this sort of thing than any purely electronic device.

  22. Re:Mirrors by Lilior · · Score: 1

    rofl....i don't have the +1 ;). Then again, I don't try. But still, it's nice to set up mirrors for stuff. Even if the intent was karma whoring, i don't think it deserves name-calling. No reason to discourage behaivour which makes the world an easier nicer place.

    --
    --Lilior
  23. Future uses of this technology by leereyno · · Score: 2

    I'd like to see what would happen if this type of experiment were performed on human males.

    Attach sensors to certain mucles umm.. down below. Use these sensors to control the direction and speed of a little go cart type device which the man would be sitting in.

    Have attractive women walk into the room and see how fast they'd get run over.

    Lee Reynolds

    --
    Muslim community leaders warn of backlash from tomorrow morning's terrorist attack.
  24. Man... by HerrNewton · · Score: 1

    Revelations meets Terminator.

    ----

    --

    ----
    Am I the only one who thinks Microsoft is a misnomer? Perhaps Macrosoft would be a better fit?
  25. bug trek by webjunky · · Score: 1

    half bug, half car, hive mind; he is "locust of bug"

  26. Re:Imagine if it was you... by The+Queen · · Score: 2

    Or you could be stuck in a canister and taught how to fly!

    The Divine Creatrix in a Mortal Shell that stays Crunchy in Milk

    --

    The House Between - Original Sci-Fi Series
  27. Possible apllication... by Wog · · Score: 1

    "This is important for us because it means that we can use a small device called a "Zapper" (like an electronic dog whistle) that produces ultrasound to get locusts to steer."

    Why couldn't large emiters be placed around crop fields, steering locusts away from produce?

  28. Re:Imagine if it was you... by Field+Marshall+Stack · · Score: 2
    It sure would be a bizzare expierence to have your legs ripped off, electrodes stuck in, and finding yourself attached to a giant car, 10 times your height, which you could then drive by thinking about walking...
    Oh sweet mother of fuck, YES. This _is_ in fact exactly what I want. Okay, if you could do it without ripping off my legs, that'd be cool, but even if you've got to take that sort of Extreme Measure, I WANT MY GIANT ROBOT

    It's the YEAR 2000. It's practically the FUTURE. But I've got no rocket car, no vampiric machine-based immortality, no SHINY SILVER JUMPSUIT with GOLDFISH BOWL HELMET, no NANOTECH ASSEMBLERS, no giant robots, no NOTHING.

    Remember folks, there's NO PROBLEM that can't be solved by robots of the appropriate size.


    --
    "HORSE."

    --
    "HORSE."
    -Flaming Carrot
  29. Re:they would smell a lot less than by radja · · Score: 1

    and they probably drive better too. And they're not whining about telephone poles either. Although that's just the dutch taxi-drivers...

    --

    No one can understand the truth until he drinks of coffee's frothy goodness.
    --Sheikh Abd-Al-Kadir, 1587
  30. Re:OT: but you have to laugh! by radja · · Score: 1

    and their probably right...

    //rdj thinks it's time for a shag (dutch). That's fag, for you brits out there. and (self-rolled) cigarette for the americans.

    --

    No one can understand the truth until he drinks of coffee's frothy goodness.
    --Sheikh Abd-Al-Kadir, 1587
  31. Sad by Stickerboy · · Score: 1


    ...that this "discussion" is degenerating into a telling of sexist and racist jokes, and that it gets modded up in /.

    The Asian locust couldn't drive in any direction...Male or female, it really didn't seem to make a difference, and no matter how much they waved or yelled at it, it just kept going on its merry way.

    'Ha ha, yeah, that's brilliant! I think I'll give that a +1: Funny, and how about a +1: Informative, too! Gather 'round the fire, boys, and let's share some more good ones about Nigger and Spic locusts while we're at it!!!'

    I hope the poster, and the moderator at least have the good sense to be ashamed. Too bad the poster didn't use his account so I could tell him personally what I think.

    --
    Light a fire for a man and he'll be warm for a day. Light a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
    1. Re:Sad by perlprog · · Score: 1

      Are you trying to defend racist jokes?

    2. Re:Sad by SubtleNuance · · Score: 1

      Are you trying to defend racist jokes?
      ummm I will.

      Lighten up. Dont take yourself so damn seriously. If you dont find it funny say so, but dont try and shut someone down simply because you dont agree... ever heard the concept of free speech ? That includes speech you dont find 'comfortable'.
      Remember - I may find YOUR opinions offensive - thus I must ask you to stop saying things like "Are you trying to defend racist jokes? because I find that idea very uncomfortable. I find it discriminatory. I dont believe you should be allowed to express that opinion.

      see how it works.. how many times must this be explained... some sheeple will never learn...Wake the fuck up buddy; Friday Night Sitcoms are NOT REALITY.

  32. Re:What's the big deal ? by Kintanon · · Score: 2

    I don't really understand what the big deal is about this piece of expiriment/research. We all know that locusts don't fly into anything except lights and windows. They just tapped the signal the insect uses to steer... They could have used any other insect/animal that has some intelligence about direction and tapped it's muscles. The tapping of muscles is not new.

    I think a useful option might be using ants because ants have a tendency to follow a sort of 'invisible path' left by the ant(s) before him -the ants leave some sort of chemical-. This could be used to steer vehicles along a certain path and that could be quite useful for unmanned vehicles in factories etc. . Although I'm not sure how an ant would respond to travelling at 30 km/h instead of 1 km/h ?


    ok, let's see YOU plug an electrode into an ants ass.... Go ahead, try it!
    The reason the used Locusts was clearly explained on the site if you had bothered to read it. Their nervous system is accesible (and the electrodes aren't bigger than the target organism).

    Kintanon

    --
    Check out JoshJitsu.info for Brazilian Ji
  33. Re:man.... by Kintanon · · Score: 2

    that's not the point, the only reason that they used electrodes is to measure muscle activity, they could have used an optical device to measure the wing activity with the same effect. For the ant just use a suitable device that will measure the relevant directional parameters...


    I don't think you were paying attention to the endeavour here. They are translating the muscle movement of the locust into steering for the vehicle. If they changed their method of input then it would be an entirely different experiment now wouldn't it!?
    Now, as an excersise for you, go build an optical device that will measure the wing activity of an ANT well enough to tell which direction the thing wants to turn in, then harness an ant up to a little car without killing it in such a way that its wing motion is still discernable.

    Sometimes I get the feeling people aren't thinking before they post.

    Kintanon

    --
    Check out JoshJitsu.info for Brazilian Ji
  34. Re:man.... by Kintanon · · Score: 2

    I don't see why you have to say stuff like Sometimes I get the feeling people aren't thinking before they post all the time, who do you think you are anyway ? obviously you didn't even think about an ant not having wings before you posted either, so that feeling might originate from your own expirience. or was it a *flying* ant you were thinking of ? - that's probably what you're gonna say....


    Ants do have wings. In fact, every true male ant has wings, as well as the queen. This occurs when the ant colony has grown large enough to migrate. So it's easy to find winged ants. Once again, you didn't bother to do any research before you posted. Stop doing that, it makes you look uninformed.

    Kintanon

    --
    Check out JoshJitsu.info for Brazilian Ji
  35. Re:man.... by Kintanon · · Score: 2

    . you contradict yourself by saying that every ant has wings and then later on you say it 'only occurs when...'


    Woahwoahwoah!! Slow down boyo, I never said every ant has wings. I said there are winged ants. There's a difference. It's quite obvious that not all ants have wings. I grew up in the south eastern US. My main ant issues were with fire ants and army ants (Our army ants are WAY smaller than those big red fsckers y'all have in africa) and these was larvae called Cow Killers that are big ants. Now, fire ants almost always have a bunch of winged drones if you dig down a ways. I've seen some winged army ants too. So there are winged ants. However NO WHERE in ANY of my posts did I even IMPLY that all ants have wings.

    Kintanon

    --
    Check out JoshJitsu.info for Brazilian Ji
  36. Re:man.... by Kintanon · · Score: 2

    In fact, every true male ant has wings, as well as the queen

    See the part after EVERY, where it says TRUE MALE? That's defining a subset of ant. And what I said is correct. Every TRUE MALE ant has wings.

    Kintanon

    --
    Check out JoshJitsu.info for Brazilian Ji
  37. Re:man.... by Kintanon · · Score: 2

    Thanks for the informative site link. Interesting. I was almost certain that true male aunts (ie, capable of reproduction) were only produced a couple of times in the life of a colony and were winged....Thanks for the info.
    I may have been a little unclear in a couple of places, sorry about that.
    Yes, this is so obscenely offtopic it's great that I'm immune to moderation... I haven't been moderated up or down in months...

    Kintanon

    --
    Check out JoshJitsu.info for Brazilian Ji
  38. Avi?! by cookieman · · Score: 1

    [ot]
    They should compress those AVI-s to MPEG1 at least, don't you think ?
    Not everybody has wideband conection tought :(
    [/ot]

    --
    Just another coder...
  39. Maybe he can race the cyborg eel! by gad_zuki! · · Score: 3

    This isn't half as freaky as this cyborg eel. It may only have a few neurons, but its still a real cyborg. No pictures but this is the robot model they used, scroll down its the one in the middle. This is a picture of the lamprey eel.

    I can also see the preview for 'cyborg wars' on Comedy Central.

  40. Re:I can't help but see the irony. by Kupek · · Score: 1
    Bah, completely missed the point. If they all they wanted to do was to restrict the locust's movement to two dimensions they could have done it much quicker and more economically by ripping its wings off.
    Which actually makes the time spent that much ironic, no?

    Anyway, don't worry, I get the point. It's an engineering marvel (or, at the very least, a curiosity), but I was looking at it from a different view point.

  41. I can't help but see the irony. by Kupek · · Score: 5

    It takes humans intensive effort to produce a vehicle that restricts the movement of a creature to two dimensions when it can normaly travel in three dimensions.

  42. Hmm ants? by antdude · · Score: 2

    I wonder if ants can accomplish better than locusts? j/k!

    Anyone know of strange experiements with ants like thos project?

    --
    Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
  43. What's the guy holding in his hand? by antdude · · Score: 2

    In the AVI video clips, does that look like a chain of keys to attract the locust? :)

    --
    Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
  44. /me bets PETA thinks animal=mammal by Rares+Marian · · Score: 1

    I hardly think PETA would be interested in topics like "Are viruses alive?", or "Are animal or plant like?"

    I'd love to see the uproar should we discover that the human body produces viruses to do some of its work.

    PETA and other such groups fail to back up most of their claims with research.

    How in hell you make a religion out of a simple concept demonstrated by bursting a baloon is beyond me.

    --
    The message on the other side of this sig is false.
    1. Re:/me bets PETA thinks animal=mammal by Bad_CRC · · Score: 1
      they had a campaign a while ago to outlaw sea monkeys because they decided it was cruel to keep brine shrimp as pets.

      ________

  45. Re:OK I am lost by Rares+Marian · · Score: 1

    The whole reason recycling is a good idea is that there is a limited supply of material, of disposal space, and thresholds where contamination becomes poisonous. Exceed those bounds and you've got trouble.

    Unfortunately some think this calls for worship to Gaia and certain social attitudes rather than rational thought and action.

    --
    The message on the other side of this sig is false.
  46. Re:Imagine if it was you... by Temporal · · Score: 2

    Yes, but only if you were capable of thinking about it. (An unpopular argument, but...)

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  47. Mirrors by CosmicEntity · · Score: 3

    The Everest Story got 2.1 Million hits in 12 hours. Just in case this one ever gets truly slashdotted (it's slow at 2:45am EST) here are copies of the files on a nice, quick connection.

    Build1a.avi
    Build5a.avi
    Car7a.avi ;
    Car9a.avi ;
    Car8a.avi ;

    --
    Error loading humorous sig.
  48. weird by dragonfly_blue · · Score: 1

    I was just discussing with my wife the other day how most of the successful robot forms I've seen and tinkered with happened to be based on insect forms. It really sort of gives me the heebie-jeebies, to think that the first cyborg creations are going to be based on spindly, creepy-crawlies... must be getting closer to Halloween.

    --
    Free music from Jack Merlot.
  49. hang up and drive by scotch · · Score: 2
    If I see one more goddamn locust driving while talking on the cell phone, I'm going to go ballistic. I don't have a problem with insects driving in general, but when you try to get one to drive properly while talking on the phone, all bets are off. They switch lanes unpredictably, can't maintain a constant speed, drive in the fast lane while going way too slow, and have no awareness of the world around them. Hell, you could have a south west brown bat driving a motorcycle right next to one of these cell-phone-talking-locusts and the bug wouldn't have any idea. Can't we pass a law or something?

    --
    XML causes global warming.
  50. How long.... by soulsteal · · Score: 2

    Until we have rednecks exploiting locusts as the new entertainment sport? Living in Mississippi (not that anything's wrong with that), I can assure you that if one locust can drive a car, then someone somewhere will find a way to have a locust destruction derby. And they'll sell beer while many men (intriguingly all named Bubba) watch and hoot and holler. And they'll have air horns as well.
    My god, what have I done.

    1. Re:How long.... by nufsaid · · Score: 1

      I _really_ want to see a locust driving a monster truck... He will crush you like a little bug.

      It could also make for an interesting variation on battlebots... battlebugs?

      --
      Is this the promised end? Or image of that horror? KING LEAR
  51. Imagine if it was you... by intmainvoid · · Score: 5

    It sure would be a bizzare expierence to have your legs ripped off, electrodes stuck in, and finding yourself attached to a giant car, 10 times your height, which you could then drive by thinking about walking...

  52. That's kind of odd. by Xzzy · · Score: 1

    Last time I implanted the front grille of my car into a locust's left and right forewing first basalar flight muscles as I was cruising down the interstate, he didn't help my steering at ALL.

    In fact, I only remember being annoyed when I had to remove the implants..

    But really.. I do have a question. With this sort of thing possible, what kind of *practical* solutions could it be expanded to? I mean, while we might be able to steer a car with a locust, how are we going to teach it to use a GPS and maps.yahoo.com?

    Is this sort of thing being done just for the sheer geekery of it? The bragging rights one gets by being able to say "I built a robot car steered by a locust"?

    Unless of course, they could expand this by attaching paralyzed people to their wheelchairs, enabling them to motor around with simply activating a few certain neurons in their brain.

    1. Re:That's kind of odd. by biohazard99 · · Score: 1
      Had a buddy at that East Coast NerveNet where they presented, he was really impressed with their work.

      Frankly I was too considering my friend just doped up crayfish with seratonin (5-HT) and studied their relative agressiveness.

      Tonight on Comedy Central Locust Wars

    2. Re:That's kind of odd. by Trevor+Goodchild · · Score: 1


      You want to use Yahoo's maps to get around?!? Good luck. Hope you don't mind being late.

  53. Re:OT: but you have to laugh! by Richy_T · · Score: 1
    Toyota are using the word "bugger" in a TV ad? I take it they are counting on most of the American population not knowing that it means male-male anal sex.

    What next? "Bollocks"?

    Rich

  54. Re:I hate to be a usage nazi, but... by Richy_T · · Score: 2
    Tomatoes are the fruit of the tomato plant which is a vegetable.

    It's all the result of some weird reasoning that we decide to categorise the various parts of plants into being fruit or vegetable. It's the same thing as when I see signs in supermarkets which point me to "beers and lagers". Lagers are beers dammit. It's the same kind of thing where you get goods labelled "Organic". Well, of course it's organic. It has carbon in it doesn't it? All part of the dumbing down of society I'm afraid.

    Oh, by the way, mushrooms aren't vegetables. In the three kingdoms, animal, vegetable, mineral, fungi dont fit into any of them (I'm sure someone can explain it better)

    Rich

  55. Re:I hate to be a usage nazi, but... by Richy_T · · Score: 2
    Sorry, my writing was ambiguous. What I was trying to say was that fungi (of which mushrooms are a member)do not fit into the kingdoms of animals, vegetables or minerals.

    Honest :)

    Rich

  56. Re:OT: but you have to laugh! by Richy_T · · Score: 2
    In Australia, the word doesn't mean what it does to you Yanks

    Er, me English. You son of dingo ;)

    Rich

  57. Re:OT: but you have to laugh! by Richy_T · · Score: 2
    Nah, I just keep an eye on your progress to becoming a republic. I'm hoping we can beat you to it and offload the Queen on to you.

    Rich

  58. Locust Drivers ! by bushboy · · Score: 1

    Women Drivers, Drivers who wear gloves Drivers who wear hats Drivers who wear hats and gloves Women Drivers who wear hats and gloves and now LOCUST DRIVERS ! Can it get any worse ? yes - Women Locust drivers wearing hats and gloves !

    --
    A slashdotting - you get the stick first and then the carrot !
    1. Re:Locust Drivers ! by King+of+the+World · · Score: 1
      You forgot to make an ethnic or religious insult.

      Oh, and cellphones. Don't forget cellphones.

      (I mean what the fuck is with all these "jokes". I take these as Karma Whoring if the attempts weren't so half-assed. Oh no wait. I get it now. A ha ha. Ha. Ho. Haa.)

    2. Re:Locust Drivers ! by King+of+the+World · · Score: 1
      I stand corrected.

      Something about "how long do you think it'll take them to port freebsd to this baybee" wouldn't have gone a miss. Or something.

    3. Re:Locust Drivers ! by baldeep · · Score: 1

      You forgot to make an ethnic or religious insult.

      And what about the the Beowulf joke. Where would we be without the Beowulf joke?

  59. my exact same reaction! by AssFace · · Score: 1

    I was all - what the F%$# when I saw it was just a remote. I mean, hell, anything can control a remote - but to drive a real car... hmmm, judging from the taxi drivers here in Boston I'm pretty sure the locust would do just fine with a regular car too.
    -------------------------------------------- ------

    --

    There are some odd things afoot now, in the Villa Straylight.
  60. first thing i thought by small_dick · · Score: 5

    ...swarms of locusts driving those huge harvesting machines across the midwestern US...

    --


    Treatment, not tyranny. End the drug war and free our American POWs.
    See my user info for links.
  61. Laptops by --delphi-- · · Score: 1

    Now lets use the same technology to make laptop batteries last longer. I know there has been research done into this, now lets implement it.I figure that whether fragging or typing I could put a little more time to the battery life.

  62. Re:I hate to be a usage nazi, but... by Kotetsu · · Score: 1

    Actually, biologists recognise seven kingdoms of life now... Animals, plants, two for bacteria, protista, eumycota (what you usually think of as fungi), and chromista (kelp is an example).

    --

    "Bite me, it's fun!" - Crowe T. Robot
  63. Locust Research by No+Such+Agency · · Score: 2
    I'm in Jeff Dawson's department here at Queen's University. It's nice to see his side-project has got some publicity. I ran into him testing the thing in the hallway one night and it kind of freaked me out, whirring across the floor like some kind of wheeled bug-Borg...

    The "Myo-Electric Locust" (MEL) is presumably named after his academic supervisor, Dr. Mel Robertson. Their lab studies the neural control of insect flight using locusts as a model. IANAE(xpert) but it seems like this sort of thing would be of interest to the automation and robotics community.

    --
    Freedom: "I won't!"
  64. Spinal lockdown by jaysones · · Score: 1
    > ...they are such excellent fliers and have an accessible nervous system

    Note to self- Make sure nervous system is NOT easily accessible by using the BrainAlarm. "Please step away from the neurons! Please step away from the neurons!"

  65. I forsee... by Donut2099 · · Score: 2

    Just think about it, this may seem really silly now, but the technology that is being developed here could be really useful. Someday, we will no longer have to worry about the idiots who talk on the phone while driving, because in the future we will steer our cars by clenching our butt cheeks left and right.

    1. Re:I forsee... by R1chard+Gere · · Score: 1

      But what if you were trying to hold back LiquiShit?

      Every correction, every turn, a little more feces squirts on to your SUV's leather seat.
      Mmmm...Tasty.

      Richard
      ----

      --
      Deepthroat my submarine, swallow my seamen.
  66. Answers question about my flight by perlprog · · Score: 1

    I was wondering who was flying my United 767 flight...

  67. OK I am lost by SigVn · · Score: 1

    Please enlighten me as to the meaning of the following statement
    "How in hell you make a religion out of a simple concept demonstrated by bursting a baloon is beyond me."

    --
    Yes I can not spell...Wait....for a second there I almost cared.
  68. And of course . by SigVn · · Score: 1

    You have prove positve that 1) the locust does not think and 2) that you do

    You would have to prove both statements true

    You would be be the base line once we can prove what thought is in you, we can set out to prove that the locust is in some way different.

    of course I strongly suspect that the Locust is aware that its legs were ripped off.

    --
    Yes I can not spell...Wait....for a second there I almost cared.
  69. biblical revelations and locusts by Miriku+chan · · Score: 1

    great. thanks so much. now when the biblical swarm of locust comes forth, they'll be cruising along on harleys.

    tangently, i think i heard about this being done on roaches but this was by some university task-force group, not this grass-roots-ghetto-style thing

    /me goes off thinking about Baron Harkonnen like locust crusing around on floating disks...

    --
    shaolin punk, activist post-industrial
    1. Re:biblical revelations and locusts by Trevor+Goodchild · · Score: 1

      Baron Harkonnen like locust crusing around on floating disks...

      Disks? What disks? Not in the movie OR the book (and the movie got it wrong anyway).

    2. Re:biblical revelations and locusts by ChenKenichi · · Score: 1

      Trev, dude, next time be careful when posting... I can hear you wanking in those parentheses there...

      --

      --

      --
      The gravitational constant of protein has changed. - Turbine
  70. As a locust.... by lpontiac · · Score: 1
    I was quivering in my shoes the second I saw this. And the story's title seemed so positive as well :/

    -------------
    Andrew Francis locust@iinet.net.au

  71. If there's one thing I want to see... by lpontiac · · Score: 1
    It's a locust steering a car towards one of those blue zapper things.

    cue A Bug's Life... "it's so pretty, i can't help it..."

  72. goatse.xc isn't ass-porn anymore by Mojojojo+Monkey+Inc. · · Score: 1

    goatse.cx has been taken down... wow!

    MOD THIS UP!

  73. Clarity by SubtleNuance · · Score: 1

    It's the same kind of thing where you get goods labeled "Organic". Well, of course it's organic. It has carbon in it doesn't it? All part of the dumbing down of society I'm afraid

    Im sure you are joking - but in case you aren't.. when you see "Organic" at the grocer it means that the product was grown/raised without the chemical soup that is unnecessarily dumped on EVERYTHING other than the items labeled as "organic" at your grocer.
    This is a Good Thing(TM)

    Please see this link for some information regarding Organic Food Products. And try and support responsible food products - buy Organic!

  74. "Laudably perverse" by Elvis+Maximus · · Score: 2

    This has to be the quote of the week:

    Steve Grand, a expert in artificial life with Cyberlife Research in Somerset, describes the work as "laudably perverse"

    The article talks a little bit about transhumanist stuff like mapping a whole human brain to a robot body, but cautions:

    More realistic... is connecting electronic devices such as mobile phones directly into our brains.

    While I have long suspected that some of my colleagues have mobile phones connected directly to their brains, this does not strike me as an appealing idea.

    "I have this horrible ringing in my ears."

    "Of course you do. I've been trying to call you all day!"

    -

    --

    -
    Give me liberty or give me something of equal or lesser value from your glossy 32-page catalog.

  75. Hey. . . by Fantastic+Lad · · Score: 1
    I just thought of a new betting sport. . .

    -Fantastic Lad

    1. Re:Hey. . . by King+of+the+World · · Score: 1

      Does it involve locusts? eh? EH?

  76. And actually. . . by Fantastic+Lad · · Score: 1

    I found this story to be a little disappointing. . .

    I thought the bug was going to be piloting a real car.

    That would have been way cooler.

    -Fantastic Lad

    1. Re:And actually. . . by iamblades · · Score: 1

      it would be possible though, and that is the point of the story... it was probably a bit over their budget to retrofit a whole car for locust drivers...

      --
      Shit adds up at the bottom...
  77. Re:when locusts attack by Daemosthenes · · Score: 3
    Screw NATO, my man; go straight to the UN security council. I have a resolution drafted up, right here, yes....

    The United Nations security council,

    Recognizing that locust's contolling hude tanks and taking over the world constitutes a grave threat to humanity,

    Noting that a locus is hugely different from a locust,

    Taking into account the need for a UN police action to battle the evil locusts,

    Proposes the creation of a subcommittee UNIDEVDL (United Nations Initiative for the Destruction of Evil Vehicle Driving Locusts) to combat this danger;

    Commissions the "superpowers" mentioned below to muster all military strength (including but not limited to ground forces, aeronautical strike teams, thermonclear weaponry and bug spray) to form a UN "policing action" against these evil bugs:
    1.United States,
    2.China,
    3.Russia (well, they're not really too powerful anymore, but hell, why not?);

    Requires all members of this "policing action" to watch "Starship Troopers", translated into the vernacular of said members;

    Prays for Humanity against this terrible crisis.

    HA! I knew all that time in Model UN would pay off some day! Now I'm off to save the world!
    - - - - - - - - -

  78. locusts driving cars? by p4r4d0x · · Score: 2

    Now we just need to figure out how to get locusts to do more productive stuff...like powering a laptop's battery or something. :)


    __

    1. Re:locusts driving cars? by King+of+the+World · · Score: 1
      Yes.

      Although the robot suit in the Alien movies would be a better comparasion.

    2. Re:locusts driving cars? by baldeep · · Score: 1

      Does anyone wonder if this could be adapted to humans, maybe make a 'magic' mouse that you just have to move your hands around to use? Or an amazing easy to drive car? It is really interesting though...

      Is this how prostheses work nowadays anyway? Say you just lost your hand. Your brain still sends impulses to that missing hand as though it were there. You can slap a few electrodes on your stump and re-learn how to control a new fake hand.

    3. Re:locusts driving cars? by iamblades · · Score: 1

      The locust doesnt power anything. He is just monitored, and when he beats his wings, he can steer the car, so it would seem as if he was flying normally to him.

      Does anyone wonder if this could be adapted to humans, maybe make a 'magic' mouse that you just have to move your hands around to use? Or an amazing easy to drive car? It is really interesting though...

      --
      Shit adds up at the bottom...
    4. Re:locusts driving cars? by grammar+fascist · · Score: 2

      Maybe on a hamster wheel? That'll be Transmeta's new low-power laptop solution.

      "Yes, folks, this laptop - not only does it have a Crusoe chip, but it is actually powered by a locust running inside a small wheel!"

      --
      I got my Linux laptop at System76.
  79. don't laugh; military testing brain-wave steering by Preposterous+Coward · · Score: 1
    "Experiments at Armstrong Laboratory's alternative control technology laboratory have unleashed the energy of brain waves, patterns of cerebral electricity, to command a flight simulator to roll left or right."

    I love the part where one of the simulator pilots says "'After doing this for a while, pushing a button seems so laborious,' said Calhoun. 'It's very addictive--you get lazy and comfortable.'"

    Check it out: http://www.af.mil/news/airman/0296/look.htm

    --

    "Biped! Good cranial development. Evidently considerable human ancestry."
  80. Re:The locust is only steering the car by King+of+the+World · · Score: 1

    Daniel son. Here, here and here.

  81. Re:The locust is only steering the car by King+of+the+World · · Score: 1
    Well posts like that usually get me marked a troll or offtopic (honestly, no respect). So as to my intentions I wouldn't say that I was in any way whoring votes out of moderators. As opposed to the post you've linked to in which I get miffed over 80s-sub-Steve-Martin-esque humour and the shoving jokes down a drowning man's throat.

    I couldn't give two hoots what any of my posts get.

  82. Re:The locust is only steering the car by baldeep · · Score: 1

    Wait a sec. Weren't you just complaining about jokes and karma whoring?

  83. They tried a female locust first. by CukO · · Score: 5

    The researcher first tried using a female locust to drive the platform, but even after hours of trying they could not get her to reverse park properly.

    The male locust is a far more accomplished parker and driver but unfortunately he and the platform have been lost as he was to stubborn to ask for directions back to the lab.

  84. Maybe a cat next? by b1t+r0t · · Score: 2
    What's with you guys? All night and not one Toonces joke? Anyhow, somebody has got to nominate this for the next Ignoble awards.

    He, M.E.L., you can drive pretty good. Hey, watch out for that sharp curve! Oh no!!!!

    #@%)(*&#$!@!!!!!! [CRASH]

    --

    --
    "Open source is good." - Steve Jobs
    "Open source is evil." - Microsoft
  85. Wow. by ChenKenichi · · Score: 1

    It takes a lot to render me completely speechless [1]. Congratulations. [1] Yes, I know this qualifies as not being completely speechless. Consider yourself congratulated for getting as close as possible.

    --

    --

    --
    The gravitational constant of protein has changed. - Turbine
  86. Re:I hate to be a usage nazi, but... by Derwen · · Score: 1
    Oh, by the way, mushrooms aren't vegetables. In the three kingdoms, animal, vegetable, mineral, fungi dont fit into any of them (I'm sure someone can explain it better)

    "fungus sb. .....In Bot., a cryptogamous plant, characterized by the absence of chlorophyll and deriving its sustenance from dead or living organic matter."

    It's all the result of some weird reasoning that we decide to categorise the various parts of plants into being fruit or vegetable

    No, it's a culinary convention. 'Fruit' are sweet, or made into sweet dishes, and served for dessert. Hence the stalk of the rhubarb plant being called a fruit, whilst botanical fruit - tomatoes, chili peppers, aubergines/eggplants, mangetout peas and so on - are called 'vegetables.'

    It's the same thing as when I see signs in supermarkets which point me to "beers and lagers". Lagers are beers dammit.

    Hmm, it's not the same, you are just having a rant. This is fine in itself, but for the record yes lager is a subset of beer. 'Beer' is used on the store's shelves however to distinguish top-fermented (or even lambic) brews from lager (bottom fermented).

    It's the same kind of thing where you get goods labelled "Organic". Well, of course it's organic. It has carbon in it doesn't it?

    You really don't like words to have more than one meaning do you? In agricultural terms 'organic' means grown with due care and attention to the long-term needs of the soil [we have lost half the world's top soil since 1945, try feeding 6 billion people with no top soil in which to grow their food] and without persistent chemical pesticides. This is widely understood and most nations run certification schemes with which farmers must comply for their food to be labelled as organic.
    Where does "the dumbig down of society" fit into this?
    - Derwen

    --
    http://fsfeurope.org/
  87. That's very very twisted by Weh · · Score: 1

    Man, are these dudes for real ?

    I live in the Netherlands, I've heard of peta, but I've never heard of these dudes. If they are for real they have a really screwed philosophy, they are fascists of course, but mosts fascists regard themselves as the ubermensch and try to kill/enslave all others. These dudes regard themselves as the ones to be enslaved/killed ie. the untermensch. I think they should start by killing themselves; I mean, they might get into a mosquito's or ant's private space or something like that. Imagine the vile injustice.... Fuck, it's also weird that they kill other animal rights activists.

    Oh well, maybe it's all a big troll ? can someone enlighten me ?

  88. never mind by Weh · · Score: 1

    I think it's a joke

  89. What's the big deal ? by Weh · · Score: 1

    I don't really understand what the big deal is about this piece of expiriment/research. We all know that locusts don't fly into anything except lights and windows. They just tapped the signal the insect uses to steer... They could have used any other insect/animal that has some intelligence about direction and tapped it's muscles. The tapping of muscles is not new.

    I think a useful option might be using ants because ants have a tendency to follow a sort of 'invisible path' left by the ant(s) before him -the ants leave some sort of chemical-. This could be used to steer vehicles along a certain path and that could be quite useful for unmanned vehicles in factories etc. . Although I'm not sure how an ant would respond to travelling at 30 km/h instead of 1 km/h ?

  90. man.... by Weh · · Score: 1
    ok, let's see YOU plug an electrode into an ants ass.... Go ahead, try it! The reason the used Locusts was clearly explained on the site if you had bothered to read it. Their nervous system is accesible (and the electrodes aren't bigger than the target organism).


    that's not the point, the only reason that they used electrodes is to measure muscle activity, they could have used an optical device to measure the wing activity with the same effect. For the ant just use a suitable device that will measure the relevant directional parameters...

    1. Re:man.... by Weh · · Score: 1

      well, in a broader sense the expiriment is about using the insect's sense of direction and ability to avoid obstacles and translating that to paramaters required to steer the vehicle. The means of translation is not so important.
      an ant doesn't have wings, so i would never be able to measure it's wing activity.
      ok, i agree using an optical device on an ant would be hard, but theoretically it could be done. I don't care if they use a locust, an ant or any other insect, the idea would be the same.
      I don't see why you have to say stuff like Sometimes I get the feeling people aren't thinking before they post all the time, who do you think you are anyway ? obviously you didn't even think about an ant not having wings before you posted either, so that feeling might originate from your own expirience. or was it a *flying* ant you were thinking of ? - that's probably what you're gonna say....

    2. Re:man.... by Weh · · Score: 1

      hey at least you're predictable...

      i've lived in africa and asia for most of my life and must have seen billions of ants, 99.99% of them did not have wings. it's *not* easy to find winged ants. maybe where you live there are lots, but in the rest of the world there are relatively little. you contradict yourself by saying that every ant has wings and then later on you say it 'only occurs when...'
      i've seen ants live in anthills, i've seen them live in trees, i've seen them live underground, i've seen ants in all fucking sizes and colors, i've even been attacked twice by an ant colony when i was sleeping, none of *all* these fuckers had wings....

    3. Re:man.... by Weh · · Score: 1

      "In fact, every true male ant has wings, as well as the queen"

      right there... check your post if you like....

      i'm not gonna reply to your posts anymore though, 'cause i get the feeling you're just trolling me...

    4. Re:man.... by Weh · · Score: 1

      yeah, i had thought of it after i had posted. you are correct, i spoke too fast, i'm sorry.

      this still seems a contradiction or a clumsy statement at least:

      In fact, every true male ant has wings, as well as the queen. This occurs when the ant colony has grown large enough to migrate.

      what do you mean by this occurs ? it would be logical if you would refer to every male ant has wings by this. by saying occurs after that you seem to imply that male ants would only have wings if their colony becomes large enough (to migrate), which is not true and seems to contradict what you said in the preceding sentence. but what you are probably refering to with this is the case in which a colony becomes large enough to produce male ants.

      btw. afaik being able to migrate is not a condition which needs to be met for male ants to be produced, the colony simply needs to be large enough. also not all male ants have wings
      check this page if you like.

      let's leave it here ok ? i made some mistakes in the discussion but i thought you presented some of the things you said in a confusing manner and besides, the discussion has gone completely ot.

      cheers

  91. Locusts & Damaged Food by resistant · · Score: 2

    Locusts are most often noted for the damage they cause to crops when they aggregate into large swarms.

    Sounds like lobbyists to me. Could they be brought under control by hooking them up to little carts, with special code to prevent them from going into the offices of politicians?

    --
    A truly excellent pizza parlor is a delight unto the heavens. Treasure the sauce and the toppings!
  92. Re:PETI? by zephc · · Score: 1

    is that like PETI@Home?

    sorry :P

    ---

    --
    "I would say that 99 per cent of what my father has written about his own life is false." - L. Ron Hubbard Jr.
  93. reaching for the remote by animallogic · · Score: 1

    i wonder fi they could make something like that for me so i just have to shake my ass a few times to get to the darn remote for the TV...

  94. they would smell a lot less than by animallogic · · Score: 1

    cab drivers

  95. When locusts attack by pabi · · Score: 1

    Imagine those guys driving lawnmowers ...

  96. Steered by, not powered by born_to_live_forever · · Score: 1

    Unless I've completely misunderstood, the locust is steering the vehicle, not powering it - in which case your point about batteries is completely irrelevant.

    - Ravn

    --

    - Peter Ravn Rasmussen

  97. Can You Imagine... by Boronx · · Score: 1

    A Beowulf cluster of these Bugs?

  98. The real questions... by vheissu · · Score: 1

    Now, can it race a slime mold through a maze? And does the EULA for a locust permit disassembly and reverse engineering?

    --
    /* This post not warrantied for mission critical applications. */
  99. Re:OT: but you have to laugh! by Callon · · Score: 1

    Toyota are using "bugger" in a series of very funny TV ads in Australia. They have been for some time.

    In Australia, the word doesn't mean what it does to you Yanks.

    Another instance of this is the word "Fanny", which means something quite different to "butt" in Australian slang.

    For another example, the word "root" means to have sex in Australian slang - thus Australians are often puzzled to hear someone from the US say they were "Rooting" for their team until it's explained!

  100. Re:OT: but you have to laugh! by Callon · · Score: 1

    Er, me English. You son of dingo ;)

    Then wot kinda absentee landlord are ya gov? You should know wot's goin' on in yure own colony!

  101. Yummy by clinko · · Score: 1

    After It's Done Flying Around You Can Eat It!
    Check out these Yummy insect recipes

  102. Why? Why? Why? by mdtrent3 · · Score: 2

    "And... if you're wondering why... M.E.L. was built for the fun of it." I'm sorry, but who told this guy that "implanting EMG electrodes" into bugs was fun? And here i've been spending my time on crazy "un-fun" stuff that didn't involve locusts in ANY way...

  103. Re:I hate to be a usage nazi, but... by iamblades · · Score: 1

    ahhh, but the locust loves it... all the locust chix0rs are after him, now that he has wheels...

    --
    Shit adds up at the bottom...
  104. PETI? by grammar+fascist · · Score: 2

    ...People for the Ethical Treatment of Insects...

    And that would be "PETI?" I just checked, and - unfortunately - peti.org is already taken.

    Darn. I was all set to put up a website called "People Eating Tasty Insects" just to bug them...

    --
    I got my Linux laptop at System76.
  105. Re:Holy shit that's funny by Raphus+Cucullatus · · Score: 1

    Laugh while you can. My plans for revenge are nearing fruition.

    --
    -- Rumors of my extinction have been greatly exaggerated.
  106. Re:I hate to be a usage nazi, but... by Raphus+Cucullatus · · Score: 1

    Fungi are an alien spore, drifting in from outer space and presumably biding their time here on earth. Didnt anyone else grow up on children's science "fiction?"

    Tomatoes *are* fruit. They are also native to the Americas, much like pasta was native to China. All of which begs the following question:

    Just how hard was it to find a good italian restaurant 500 years ago?

    --
    -- Rumors of my extinction have been greatly exaggerated.
  107. Kickass! by emiumilb · · Score: 1

    What they should do is hook that thing up to yer cock! *THAT* would be something to talk about!