Cyborg beetles to be the US military's latest weapon (w/ Video)
October 15, 2009 by Lin Edwards
'Cyborg beetle.' Image credit: UC Berkeley
(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of scientists funded by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) have implanted miniature neural and muscle stimulation systems into beetles to enable their flight to be remotely controlled.
Researchers Hirotaka Sato, Michel Maharbiz, and colleagues implanted a system of nerve and muscle stimulators, a microbattery, and a microcontroller with transceiver into beetles. They were able to successfully control the beetles' take off, flight, and landing by stimulating the brain to work the wings. They controlled turns through stimulating the basilar muscles on one side or the other to make the wings on that side flap harder.
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Three types of large beetles from Cameroon were used in the experiments, which were carried out at the University of California in Berkeley. The smallest, cotinis texana, is 2 cm long, while the largest is a massive 20 cm long (megasoma elephas). The third species was mecynorhina torquata, a 7 cm long beetle. The components of the system were implanted in the beetles when they were at the pupal stage.According to Professor Noel Sharkey, an international expert on artificial intelligence and robotics from Sheffield University in the UK, there have been attempts in the past to control insects such as cockroaches, but this is the first time the flight of insects has been controlled remotely.
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The ultimate military application of remotely controlled beetles is puzzling, Professor Sharkey said, since you would need to also implant a GPS transmitter/receiver to pinpoint the beetle's location, and probably a camera too, but this would be too heavy for even the largest beetle. Potential use of the system as a means of carrying a payload of biological or chemical weapons would be completely illegal.The Berkeley researchers suggested the "cyborg" beetles -- part beetle, part machine -- could serve as models for micro air vehicles. DARPA, which funded the research, is also known to be developing a Nano Air Vehicle (NAV) that would weigh less than 10 g, and measure under 7.5 cm, and give the military the capability of carrying out indoor and outdoor operations in urban warfare situations.
'Cyborg beetle.' Image credit: UC Berkeley
Sato and colleagues also said the beetles could serve as couriers to inaccessible locations. The Berkeley team is also experimenting on dragonflies, flies and moths because of their "unmatched flight capabilities".More information: Sato H, Berry CW, Peeri Y, Baghoomian E, Casey BE, Lavella G, VandenBrooks JM, Harrison JF and Maharbiz MM (2009) Remote radio control of insect flight. Front. Integr. Neurosci. 3:24. doi:10.3389/neuro.07.024.2009
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© 2009 PhysOrg.com
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@antialias: I wouldn't worry about the government implanting anything like this in you any time soon. At most you would get a strong urge to turn in circles every now and then. Plus you'd probably notice the whole "invasive surgery" and "circuit board sticking out of your face" part.
Reminds me of when they said torture and waterboarding was illegal, but did it anyway.
Watch the first video, and try to imagine that is yourself. It is terrible. Make robotic beetles, cut out the middleman. And no harm is done.
Microscopic sized TV cameras are being developed also. They can be wrapped in flexible solar cells
to recharge.
It is crude, useless, mindless and indicative of an infantile culture. No less than sick. Ethics don't come into it.
Extremist. This does not mean that. Reminds me of the CA woman who was against cops using hollowpoint bullets. It was ok to shoot criminals but "you don't have to blow them away" was her reasoning.
yah, as if freedom of choice wasn't an illusion. I too dream of augmentation, the seamless interface.
Re 9:4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
Re 9:5 And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
Re 9:6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
Re 9:7 And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.
Re 9:8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
Re 9:9 And they had breastplates, as i
And we are merely the bug that will destroy all other bugs.
Second that movement.
@ELE
Its DARPA. They get whatever they want.They used to say the same things about surgery. And the waltz.
another human-hater. I bet you love animals though eh? You all would prefer dolphins trained to attach mines to enemy ships, right? I mean it's something they 'decide' to do. For their country or seaworld or their mates or whatever. Like us.
I am in no conceivable way a 'human-hater', and it is not even so much that I 'love animals'. I merely think that human knowledge is paltry, and there is a vast amount of knowledge that we can't comprehend, especially concerning animals. What gives us the right to lord over them? We 'think' we are above nature, when realistically we are part of nature itself.
Yeah, cause our government is ALL about following it's own rules.
Beetle not included. I can just picture pranksters with hordes of remote controlled tarantuals having a blast on Halloween.
Recently, this 'speed differential' of black ops technological advancement was knocked back to 44 years per 'normal' year.
This means that the sort of technology seen here with this beetle in 'public' civilian based science is likely 25-30 years (civilian/public years) behind the level of sophistication of neurological work in buried and hidden advanced technology.