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DragonflEye Project Wants To Turn Insects Into Cyborg Drones
New submitter robotopia writes: Scientists at a research and development company called Draper are using genetic engineering and optoelectronics to turn dragonflies into cybernetic insects, reports IEEE Spectrum. To control the dragonflies, Draper engineers are genetically modifying the nervous system of the insects so they can respond to pulses of light. The goal of the project, called DragonflEye, is enabling insects to carry scientific payloads or conduct surveillance.
Some time ago I was thinking that the increased use drones could lead to the military killing all birds and larger flying animals from their target areas in case they were used by their enemies. Now it seems that there are reasons for all life to be made a target. An army might find that a literal scorched earth approach - exterminate everything, animal and plant, in the soil and above - is needed to get them victory. As with the use of nuclear bombs on cities, apologists will find ways of justifying this.
Go read Azimov's The Dead Past if you haven't yet. He makes a great point - the ultimate endgame of this type of surveillance technology isn't the government or corporations spying on everything we do. It's regular people using it to spy on each other.
The voyeurs are going to have a field day with this. You'll never know anymore if your bedroom, your shower stall, the inside of your car as you drive to work, your work office are truly private. Even if you lined a room with metal to create a faraday cage, an insect could be programmed to enter, loiter while a camera records for a few hours, then exit so it can upload the recorded video. You thought companies tracking your web browsing habits with cookies was invasive? You ain't seen nothing yet.