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Remote-Controlled Flies
Rollie Hawk writes "This could be a huge development for the ultra-lazy (and ultra-stinky, for that matter). It seems that Yale scientists have managed to engineer a remote control system for flies. According to their study (recently featured in Cell), specific neurons can be stimulated by lasers to control basic functions in fruit flies such as jumping, walking, and flying.
The study, of course, was performed with wider ranging applications in mind than bringing new meaning to the saying, "Shew, fly!" The overall goal was to determine whether isolated-neuron stimulation could be used to control basic motor activities and even more complex behavior.
Everyone since the days of Mary Shelly has obviously known that there are connections between electrical current and muscle movement. What makes this study unique is that it does not use traditional electrodes, which lack the single-neuron specificity of lasers. Eventually, this could lead to mappings that will give humans knowledge and possibly control over not only complex movements but less-than desirable mental functions such as aggression and overeating."
I once saw a fly racing competition where the contestants must get their flies to weave through a course.
They used water pistols filled with fruit juice. Flies' response time was slow but accuracy was extremely high.
Rock that crushes, Paper & Scissors that don't matter.
They patented doing this with Sound waves instead of Lasers.
"Shew, fly!"
Shoo, poor speller!
Like we really need the sharks with frickin' laser beams to be even *more* powerful.
I, for one, welcome our new brain-controlling frickin' laser shark overlords.
(Smooth, guys. Real smooth.)
Breaking Into the Industry - A development log about starting a game studio.
just got a whole lot more f-cked up.
"A witty saying proves nothing." ~Voltaire
"d'Oh!" ~Homer
[...] control over not only complex movements but less-than desirable mental functions such as aggression and overeating.
But then America would be unpopulated.
Trolling is a art,
Finally, I can look forward to owning a real remote control aircraft! No more having to play with r/c flight sims like Realflight or Aerofly Pro. No more props that could decapitate someone if they hit them the wrong way, so I'm sure the local council won't object to me flying it at the park! I wonder how many channels for the remote!?
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
Groucho Marx
The scientists involved were unavailable for comment, as they were too busy constructing levels out of Lego blocks and playing them with their new remote-controlled flies in a real-life videogame.
" makes their wings spin off!" exclaimed one sugar-charged geek.
Work has already begun to interface with the flies using an NES controller. "Up-up-down-down-left-rifgt-left-right-B-A-select
I thought this was going to be a discussion on remote-controlling computer files
another tool for the corporations to sell their goods and services.
- patron enters store
- patron gets stimulated by a flood of lazers within the store
- patron has the urge to purchase more than what he/she origionaly wanted
this sinister motive is nothing new either, corporations have dumped lots of money in research for these same reasons. I.e. certain fragrences in the air stimulate people to spend money, certain oxygen levels, etc. Ever notice how there is never a clock visable in a department store? The absence of knowing the time makes shoppers less in a hurry to leave.
Since the days of Galvani , the Italian experimenter for whom "galvanic" current is named. Mary Shelly's days started just about when Galvani's ended, as he died in December 1798, while she was born in August 1797. She wrote the story of "Frankenstein's monster", where dead flesh is revived by electricity, during Summer 1816.
--
make install -not war
I wonder what the benefits of artificially overcoming anger and over eating are. These mental functions generally have root causes. To use a form of mind control to subdue those thoughts will be temporary and will make our society dependent on brain lasers to cure our problems. The solution should come from confronting the causes in our personal lives. However, using the lasers to make animals dance could have benefits for all. Flea circus indeed!
This is my last post.
[6th Estate]
...welcome our new insect overlords.
Oh wait.
"Everyone since the days of Mary Shelly has obviously known that there are connections between electrical current and muscle movement."
Surely since the days of Luigi Galvani?
Did anyone else read the title and think it said remote controlled files
At least my sharks have friggin' fly-controlling laser beams.
Now if I were a little richer, I could have a remote control bee.
This opens the door to the exciting world of nanotechnology. The number of applications could be limitless, one of which could be the development of tiny flying robots, millions working together to solve complex problems. Of course the military could see immediate benefits, creating swarms of synthetic "cameras", allowing our intelligence agencies access to unprecedented targets of interest. And the risks should be minimal, as these are purely man-made beings with no innate ability to reproduce, mutate, or turn on their creators. I for one cannot wait...sign me up!
"...Eventually, this could lead to mappings that will give humans knowledge and possibly control over not only complex movements but less-than desirable mental functions such as aggression and overeating." ...or abstinence.
Think of the potential of a sex-laser like that!
Husband: Honey! why are you just eating oatmeal today?
Wife: Thats because my dietitian zapped me with this laser.
Husband: How much did it cost?
Wife: Only $550
Husband: *faints*
fuvoo: watch something
[researchers] We shall control you with lasers [fly] try me! You can never control me! [researchers] Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated in 10,9,8,7... [fly] I laugh in the face of lasers! ha! ha! ha! ha! [researchers] 2,1... Activating neuron-control laser. Initiating first command...JUMP! [fly jumps] I don't understand! I feel perfectly normal, but I am jumping!?! [researchers] you have been assimilated.
These scientists didn't get enough of pulling wings of flies during high school science classes, or putting white-out on their eyes?
I didn't rtfa, but wasn't there a project that remote controlled rats?
I suspect the first use of this technology could be used to prevent the rampant violence occurring at Old County Buffets. Next step is The Matrix.
Like I really need a gay ass computer chip to controll my aggression, screw you, you stupid piece of shit!
It makes me think of what the implications of such a discovery could be in the future. Just imagine what government types, or even interest groups could and probably would do if they could control other peoples motor reflexes, and even supress or bring out certain emotions that would make a certain cause easier to bring about.
It's sorta scary thinking about what someone with a lacking in morals might do if something like this were to get to such a point.
...during a Laser Zeppelin show when I took off like a hummingbird. By buddies thought it was the brown acid, but I swore it was the lasers.
Read the title as Files the first time around and wondered to myself.... What's new about that? So, figure that the first application will be for Recon and Defense?
is here.
You were not the only one ;)
The AACS key is NOT 0xF606EEFD628B1CA427BEA93A9CA9773F
So a foil hat will block this out, right guys? Guys? Why are you all advancing on me with weapons? And what's with the glazed look in your eyes? Guys? Really, this isn't funny anymore, get back, I swear to god I'll... *long, terrified scream*...
oh ho you're funny.
ssh
welcome our new fly over...oh wait, we're the overlords this time. Eat that, flies!
I want.
until my remote control flies have a taste of the Goliath serum. Then your frickin' shark overlords will be chunks in soup.
Why is it that these "mental functions" are seen as some sort of involuntary nervous tic instead of the behavioral actions they really are? Jerkiness and gluttony will be treated with lasers! No need to develop a societally acceptable personality-- we'll just zap your brain every time you think about eating or slugging someone!
If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
Pretty soon science will give us the ability to reprogram specific areas of the human brain and not to much farther down the road you could potentially remap an entire human brain onto a clone "6th Day" style.
But why would you want to even stop there? Why not just create a new host for your consciousness in the form of reprogrammable replicating nanocells that are adverse to many of the inherent problems with cellular life and its fragile DNA?
Even better than that, with this new artificial host created by nanocells, your consciousness could instruct your nanocells to create new limbs or extend your special member to any desired length or girth with just a thought "Spawn" style. You could in effect become anything you wanted to, provided there are safeguards for not corrupting your own neural net accidentally.
Of course these prospects might sound cool now, but even the typical amoral geekified anti-god slashdotter has to wonder if there is such a thing as science going too far when you can reprogram and remote control other organisms (including humans) in such a way that you might as well be playing god yourself.
is here.
The last movie is the best.
Also, Carl Zimmer has written an article in the NYTimes on this; here's his blog post on the topic, as well.
Insert witty comment *here*. I'm fresh out of wit...
We will make them!
I could have sworn the link in my RSS reader said "Remote-Controlled Files". I was wondering what doofus had accepted a story about FTP.
Check out our infosecurity industry blog: http://securitymusings.com/
In The Fifth Element, one of the villains uses a remote-controlled cockroach to spy on the Earth president...
And became an SCO laywer
As a child in England, I found that shew was an alternative spelling of show in a dictionary; but the only place I can remember seeing it used, was on a sign at the entrance to the Mersey Tunnel. Possibly shoo was intended?
The fourth movie is the depiction of:
"A single 150 ms laser pulse causes one headless body to fly out of the open arena and the other to open and flap its wings."
Man, that thing controls your brain even when you have no brain. Now, that's freaking powerful!!
Here it cums!
Laser beam controlled fruit flies. Welcome to the future my friends.
I wonder if this will work on people. Geek + that really bright green laser from ThinkGeek = date?
This is just one step closer to state-prescribed mind control.
In Soviet Russia, the flies with lasers control you!
Dito
Gives a whole new meaning to that classic
;)
Fly, my pretties!
Hyperom.com
Man, you could make the perfect soldure with this kind of technology. If you can suppress fear and pain, and amp up adrenalin and you've got quite the fighting machine on your hands.
Damn it!! Why is everyone always trying to restrict aggression? It's enough to make me want to kill... Garrr. Unleash your rage.
Not, "shew, fly."
(unless the intent was to buy 3 pairs of really tiny sneakers)
Did someone go and change TEL while I wasn't paying attention again?
I just watched the episode of Max Headroom where they spy on a board meeting via a mechanical fly, and now I see this?
...As this gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "They made me do it!"
One word: Skillsofts!
They can wire the entire functions of a human body to a nifty ten button video game controller.
"Brain' and 'brain'! What is 'brain'?"
Sometimes my arms bend back.
Where is my fly death army? (Locusts of chiron anyone?)
If you can make a fly hop etc, it isn't too far to making soldiers do stuff, or shooting an enemy with a dart and taking control of their body (eg. make them surrender etc).
Engineering is the art of compromise.
... can't be that far off. :D
into the second controller port, and the flies will no longer be able to avoid your swatters.
Anything that gets rid of Jeff Goldblum is fine by me.
Remote-Controlled Files? Get with the times, stupid scientists! This has been in Windows for years!
Don't you suppose getting a fly to sit still and wait would be more beneficial?
Question:
What does Gothic novelist Mary Shelley have to do with the electro-muscular research pioneered by Luigi Galvani?
Answer:
Nothing.
"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."
-- Pablo Picasso
/me goes to find misplaced tin-foil-hat.
has anyone not thought of the possibilities of a young brother getting back at an older brother with the fantastic power of lasers....
"stop hitting yourself...stop hitting yourself...stop hitting yourself..."
Great, now we're one step closer to an actual Night of the Living Dead.
Time to go rehearse some lines*, just in case.
*I know I'm mixing up movies, but I've always wanted a legitimate reason to repeat those phrases. ;)
putfwd.com - 1GB Free file storage with a twist
(So people don't have to dig around for it...)
Remote Control of Behavior through Genetically Targeted Photostimulation of Neurons
Susana Q. Lima and Gero Miesenböck
Optically gated ion channels were expressed in circumscribed groups of neurons in the Drosophila CNS so that broad illumination of flies evoked action potentials only in genetically designated target cells. Flies harboring the "phototriggers" in different sets of neurons responded to laser light with behaviors specific to the sites of phototrigger expression. Photostimulation of neurons in the giant fiber system elicited the characteristic escape behaviors of jumping, wing beating, and flight; photostimulation of dopaminergic neurons caused changes in locomotor activity and locomotor patterns. These responses reflected the direct optical activation of central neuronal targets rather than confounding visual input, as they persisted unabated in carriers of a mutation that eliminates phototransduction. Encodable phototriggers provide noninvasive control interfaces for studying the connectivity and dynamics of neural circuits, for assigning behavioral content to neurons and their activity patterns, and, potentially, for restoring information corrupted by injury or disease.
They're the Mario Brothers, not the Galvani Brothers. Koopa, on the other hand ...
Max Headrom was a show ahead of it's time in many ways.
I see this artical and I think of blipverts (subliminal advertising)
I don't actually exist.
soon flies will be entertaining us with all their hilarious antics -- controlled by humans of course :)
Mens et Manus
Orbital brain lazers
I don't actually exist.
A REAL LORD OF THE FLIES.
Imagine commanding an army of a few hundred thousand. effective.
Soon Sony may have an Aibo attachment for real dogs!
Those who know, do not speak. Those who speak, do not know. ~Lao Tzu
What's awesome is that Slashdot now comes equiped with readers who can't wait to have their brains controlled! Yay!
Good science, though!
Now we can finally combat God's nasty plagues. If only pharoah had this technology...
How long until a hacker manages to crack it?
You dont care about silly nuron games, If I could just keep misquitos off, I'd call the insect brain research complete.
"And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the World"
1 John 4:14
google it....
eat shiat and bark at the moon
nicotine i believe messes with neurotransmitter levels such as anandomide, which is responsible for pumping more blood around your stomach so you can digest food. When you stop smoking, there is more than a psycological response - a physiological one, that results in more blood being pumped to digest food, which increases hunger. (Incidentally, cannabis(/THC) acts on anandomide receptor sites, causing increased blood flow to the stomach, giving you "the munchies").
After you start eating, hormones are slowly released which stop the neurotransmitters from being released that make you hungry. In some people, these hormones are not released [as much] or don't have the full effect they should, which can result in hunger not being staved off, and thus over-eating. In cases as these, activating receptor sites the hormones should be (eg, through drugs or 'lasers'?) would correct the problem. As you're helping something to happen that should be happening anyway, i can't see any validity in your argument.
-2A
The revolution will not be televised... but it will have a page on Wikipedia
Mary Shelley did not say how Frankenstein came alive, only how he was assembled and then he was left on the table and then he rose. All the lightning bolt mad scientist electricution stuff was introduced by Hollywood.
whilst true that high levels of glutamite can cause neuron death due to excitotoxicity, the brain does have defenses against it (in fact when glutamite levels shoot up high, the brain releases an NMDA-antagonist similar to ketamine, to protect against excitotoxicity).
Glutamite is also coverted in the brain to GABA, another amino acid which acts as a primary inhibitory neurotransmitter, which counters glutamite and other excitory neurotransmitters. So it really isn't so cut and dry.
-2A
The revolution will not be televised... but it will have a page on Wikipedia
my mom used to do this to me :'-(
-2A
The revolution will not be televised... but it will have a page on Wikipedia
controlling rats was not done by controlling their muscles (eg, electical impulses to make their legs move, something I would have a problem with), but by triggering their reward system when they go move the right way. This makes the rat actually want to do what you're telling it, and ultimately it does it of it's own free will. I thought this was pretty cool.
-2A
The revolution will not be televised... but it will have a page on Wikipedia
Last night a friend came round to my place to discover a dead cat near the gate. It's owner lives in the block of flats I live in.
I broke the news to the woman. She accused me of killing the cat. Then she accused my friend. Then she accused just about every other person at the flats.
My mate and I just wanted to bury the poor cat and she fought like a bitch with another woman who she was *convinced* killed the cat on purpose. They didn't stop bitching the entire time.
She kept weeping "This is what happens when you trust people". She was right but not for the reason she thought: it was *her* lack of responsibility that led to the cat's death. She let it roam around. If you let a cat roam it will end up being hit by a car. Every time. What cat lover isn't aware of this obvious fact?
I ended up screaming at these women and threatening to go back to my apartment and not help any further. They *still* didn't stop bitching.
If I'd had a powerful mind-controlling laser maybe things would have been different. In fact I believe if I had any sort of laser handy I could have controlled the situation more effectively.
Cheers
Stor
"Yeah well there's a lot of stuff that should be, but isn't"
And Visual Basic coding.
The accidental decapitations are the BEST PART of RC airplanes! They're a real crowd pleaser and the sport wouldn't have nearly the draw that it does if no one got a head or arm lopped off every once in a while.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Just in case no one has pointed this out already, but there was no use of electricity to animate Frankenstein's monster in Mary Shelley's novel. That idea came solely from Hollywood's bad adaptations of the novel. There's mention of electricity, lightening, and galvanism in chapter 2, but those just serve as motivating factors that lead Victor Frankenstein to attend college to study science. In fact, there is scarcely anything mentioned about what Frankenstein specifically did to bring his creation to life.
Searchable full text of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein"~taltman
now we are one step closer to the dream of sending remote controlled downs' syndrome people into battle. who will make our wicker baskets now!
I used to have a better sig than this, but I got tired of it
Whoe-heartedly. I wish I could moderate it simultaneously.
.
-shpoffo
sometimes it blows my mind...
Do not look into laser with remaining fly.
Village idiot in some extremely smart villages.
... of this (German language) story. :-)
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
Some people are so scared of the world hurting them that they feel the need to control every last inch of it.
If you don't give a cat the freedom to roam about, it will turn into a lazy and/or mentally ill indoor cat. I see this all the time. Compare any 'house' cat from the city with any outdoor cat in the country, and the difference is immediately obvious.
Freedom, Death and Danger are good teachers. If a people can't deal with this, then they should reconsider trying to 'own' a cat. --Cities are horrible places for all kinds of animal, except humans choose to live in cities. Cats and dogs are held prisoner by selfish/ignorant humans who are in the middle of learning lessons about freedom, emotional attachment and social control. This often takes several lives to get right.
To let your cat roam free is to be on the right path.
To lose your marbles and blame the world for killing your cat, is to slip and fall while walking the right path. (Receive without grace an important lesson about freedom.)
Controlling people with lasers is no better than keeping a cat locked up for life inside a one-bedroom apartment. People must be given the free range within which to live and get hurt and act without grace, or they will never learn anything and remain little better than mentally ill carpet ornaments.
-FL
So will collars with these new-fangled laser beams be available soon, or will Spot have to fail obedience school a third time?
1. Strip
2. Sit
3. Suck
Should only work on females ofkoz...
-- All Gods were immortal.
-- S. Lem
I think the question everyone wants to know is how long will it take to develop a remote controlled Hally Berry
BTW does anyone know why DARPA would want a remote-controlled flying turd?
This whole story makes no sense... aren't lasers mostly light, whether in the visible spectrum or invisible spectrum? If so, how exactly is this light piercing the outer crunchy bits of the fruit fly, and targetting specific neurons?
If you wanted to use this on humans, you would have considerably more flesh, blood, and bone to work through, not to mention the fact that the neurons might not be conveniently located on the surface of the brain, so you might have to drill through a whole lot more. Is that smoke I smell?
Yes, I am aware that certain forms of light radiation can pass through the body, but anything affecting neurons is probably going to affect anything else in the way also. On the whole, this story smells like BS, or more likely the wet dream of one of GW's contemporaries.
What he can't kill, he has sex on. Trent.
Just my little observation...
"Hey, what's this funny laser-emitter-looking thing on my can of Coke?" BZZAP! "Mmmm. Soda."
On that note: I'm not sure if a cybornetic animal counts as a 'robot' in the million dollar DARPA challenge, but I read a story the other day about how Saudi Arabian camel jockey have heretofore typically been 4 year old children enslaved into jockeying racing camels ( yeah, like little Anakins ), and that from now on, camel racing will be done via robot jockeys in an attempt to end that practice ( It would seem that changing the rules to require all camels to carry a minimum weight would eliminate the need for child jockeys but I guess they like robots. ) Such robots have been used in Pony racing for a long time.
Anyway, a camel is a huge beast, much bigger than a horse. It can carry a lot of weight over a long distance without much water. But horses are more common in the US, so let's consider them.
Basically, you could train a horse to follow the instructions of a robot jockey equipped with a GPS sensor. It would issue gentle informational (navigational) commands to the horse which the horse could ignore or follow as it saw fit. However the horse would know ( through training ) that if it followed the commands of the robot jockey, that it would be rewarded with a treat at the end of the course. So, the horse, faced with a ravine and a robot jockey that wanted to cross, could temporarily ignore the urging of the jockey to find a better way around it and then decide to follow the jockey again to find it's treat. Of course, the military would probably attach a spy camera or mini nuke to the horse in combat, making it a target, but until the robo-horse was used in combat, the whole thing would be very humane. It would basically be a land based homing pigeon that would home into whatever GPS coordinates you programmed into the robot jockey.
No need for gruesome and cruel leads going into the skull of the animal, only gentle training and encouragement. The horse/camel/elephant would have to learn to use it's own horse/camel/elephant sence and ignore the robo-jockey when it was dumbly urging an impossible course but sort of use it as a compass. I can imagine training such an animal over longer and longer mazes until it could be trusted to go a few hundered miles, stopping to eat grass and drink water as needed along the way. An animal with a good sence of smell could even be trained to sniff for and avoid mines.
"that will give humans knowledge and possibly control over not only complex movements but less-than desirable mental functions such as aggression and overeating."
Just who will be deciding what mental functions are the less desirable ones?
Doesn't anyone else find this a scary development?
How far from thought and mind control are we actually?
I thought this was going to be a discussion on remote-controlling computer files
That's a few stories up (see the title "Microsoft Releases 8 New Security Patches").
one of the characters had a chariot of song birds. Good read if you get a chance to find it.
Sorry about the writing. Robot fingers, you know? Cliff Steele in DOOM PATROL #23