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DARPA Creates Remote Controlled Insects

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the bug-with-a-bug dept.

EmagGeek writes "Attempts by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to create cybernetic insects (hybrids of biological and electronic 'bugs') have yielded ultra-low power radios to control the bugs' flight and a method of powering those circuits by harvesting energy, according to research that will be reported this week at the IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference. 'Electrodes and a control chip are inserted into a moth during its pupal stage. When the moth emerges the electrodes stimulate its muscles to control its flight. I expect a run on bug zappers any day."

9 of 101 comments (clear)

  1. I, for one, welcome our new Insect Overlords by relikx · · Score: 5, Funny

    If you sign up now you won't get hive duty and can assist as a pollinator.

  2. Bugs? by Locke2005 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Queue avalanche of "debugging" jokes in 4... 3... 2...

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    1. Re:Bugs? by PrescriptionWarning · · Score: 3, Funny

      1... 0... -1... -2... -3...

      oops, sorry the damn while loop was never told to break at 0, looks like it will just have to wait till CTRL+C!

  3. Re:I saw this in a B movie on the sci-fi channel. by someone1234 · · Score: 3, Funny

    I saw a bugged cockroach in Fifth Element too.
    I hope one day they will be able to reconstruct a person from fragment DNA too :)

    --
    Patents Drive Free Software as Hurricanes Drive Construction Industry
  4. At mere $3,000,000 per bug... by Phizzle · · Score: 5, Funny

    At mere $3,000,000 per bug our government will create swarms of moths to charge into the windshields of Taliban truckers and irk the crap out of them.

    --
    I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.
  5. Moses claims prior art . . . by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 3, Funny

    . . . didn't he have swarms of 'dem critters? Sicked 'em on the Ancient Egyptians, and stuff. Since Moses was a meticulous man, he probably kept the blueprints for his remote controlled insects in a safe place. All we need to do is find the Ark of the Covenant; the plans are probably in there.

    Or have the patents belonging to biblical leaders expired already?

    And if you need God to power the insects, that might be a bit of a problem. Only CERN has that much energy at their disposal.

    --
    Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
  6. Still can't resist the sex... by 7Prime · · Score: 4, Funny

    He cites some limitations for insects, including a tendency for moths to approach light sources (the proverbial flames) and a powerful sex pheromone response that could override attempts at remote electronic control. "Pheromones are incredibly powerful," he says.

    Even billions of dollars in US military funding can't keep a moth from getting laid.

    --
    Multiplayer Gaming (defined): Sitting around, discussing single-player games with my friends, at the bar.
    1. Re:Still can't resist the sex... by Arancaytar · · Score: 3, Funny

      On the other hand, Slashdot can accomplish the same for millions of nerds with no government funding at all!

  7. Cellphones mutating? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Its more likely than you think. ;)