Slashdot Mirror
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."
welcome our new remote control beetle overlords!
... so I put a, oh fuck it.
At last we can breathe a little easier, secure in the knowledge that flying cockroaches are watching over us at all times.
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.
Maybe these things will be moving by themselves soon...
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
So, you don't want citizenship, do you?
in Africa. Where else will giant African beatles blend in?!
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.