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Radio-Controlled Cyborg Beetles Become Reality

holy_calamity writes "DARPA's plans to create brain chips for insects so they can be steered like an RC plane are bearing fruit. Videos show that a team at Berkeley can use radio signals to tell palm-sized African beetles to take off and land, and to lose altitude and steer left or right when in flight. They had to use the less-than-inconspicuous giant beetles because other species are too weak to take off with the weight of the necessary antenna and brain and muscle electrodes."

18 of 150 comments (clear)

  1. I for one by Johann+Public · · Score: 4, Funny

    welcome our new remote control beetle overlords!

    1. Re:I for one by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      I am swarmed with the feeling that this will bug a lot of people.

    2. Re:I for one by tinkertim · · Score: 4, Funny

      What, no lasers?

    3. Re:I for one by Fuger · · Score: 2, Funny

      Didn't you RTFA? Lasers are too heavy due to power requirements. Marshmallow launchers, on the other hand...

      --
      Appended to the end of comments you post. 120 chars.
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    4. Re:I for one by commodoresloat · · Score: 2, Funny

      Of course it stings people; this is a war technology and it flies in the face of diplomacy and peace. We should be able to listen to our Beatles records in our VW bugs rather than collecting new weapons like a scarab collects shit. This ticks me off!

    5. Re:I for one by Dystopian+Rebel · · Score: 2, Funny

      ... look forward to attending the Reunion Concert that we never had.

      --
      Rich And Stupid is not so bad as Working For Rich And Stupid.
    6. Re:I for one by Digital+Vomit · · Score: 5, Funny

      Patience, grasshopper.

      Oh...I've said too much...

      --
      Modern copyright is theft of culture from everyone and it retards the progress of the useful arts and sciences.
  2. Name by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Large? For Beetles.
    Benevolent? Probably not.
    Cyborg? Check.
    I suggest we call these the Big Bad Beetleborgs.

  3. Yo dawg, I heard you like flying beetles... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    ... so I put a, oh fuck it.

  4. FINALLY. by straponego · · Score: 3, Funny

    At last we can breathe a little easier, secure in the knowledge that flying cockroaches are watching over us at all times.

  5. I wonder... by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Funny

    If this project will turn out better than "Acoustic Kitty" did...

    We've always wanted to be a fly on the wall; but having your secret spy weapon get eaten by an insectivorous plant would be pretty embarrassing.

  6. Who knows? by Tibia1 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Maybe these things will be moving by themselves soon...

  7. beetles... by fireball84513 · · Score: 2, Funny

    beetles really creep me out, let me know when i can get a brain chip thingy for my dog so he will stop taking a shit on the grass and instead dump his load in the sandbox like hes supposed to

    --
    "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
  8. Finally! by superdave80 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Radio-Controlled Cyborg Beetles Become Reality

    Well, it's about damn time. You know how long I've been waiting for this day?

    /wipes away a single tear

  9. Re:Shame this is not genetic engineering by martin-boundary · · Score: 4, Funny

    Gah, then we have to flight bugs in space, eww.

    So, you don't want citizenship, do you?

  10. Too bad this technology only works by chrismiceli · · Score: 5, Funny

    in Africa. Where else will giant African beatles blend in?!

  11. Re:Sweet, but needs a lot of work still by GradiusCVK · · Score: 4, Funny

    if this could be scaled up to larger animals, perhaps the power would cease to be an issue

    I say we strap a diesel generator and a surveillance suite on an elephant. It's my understanding that even if somebody notices him in the room, they'll still act like they don't.

  12. Re:DARPA is giving violent people ideas. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Soon other people will be doing the same thing, using DARPA's leadership, and terrorism using that method will be common. In the entire history of the world, the U.S. government is the biggest originator of violence. The U.S. government has invaded or bombed 25 countries since the end of the 2nd world war. The U.S. has more citizens in prison than farmers. Weapons investors like Cheney and his friends and the Bush family want continuous war.

    *slap* Shut up and make a bug joke.