Engineers from the University of California at Berkeley, and the University of Michigan are on the verge of creating undercover bugs of the future
Engineers from the University of California at Berkeley, and the University of Michigan have developed the first wireless flying-insect cyborg. Using electrodes that are connected to the insect’s optic lobes and flight muscles, these bugs could be the newest form of undercover agent.
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Imagine walking down the street, and seeing a tiny black beetle buzzing along. Would you ever fathom that perhaps this miniscule creature is the end result of thousands of hours of research and development?
The first unmanned remote controlled airplane was flown in 1916. Decades later, hundreds of tiny remote controlled planes made their way into mass production. Tiny helicopters were created as well, sending enthusiasts into a frenzy. Now, technology has created the possibility of flying a living, breathing creature.
Hirotaka Sato and Michel M. Maharbiz, at the University of California at Berkeley, and researchers at the Boyce Thompson Institute, at the University of Michigan, are using cutting edge technology to manipulate the movements of a wide range of insects, from beetles to dragon flies. By connecting electrodes to the insect’s optic lobes, the flight muscles can be controlled by a remote. The result is almost like driving a toy airplane, thus transforming these creatures into undercover bugs of the future. Insects are a seemingly perfect undercover agent, as they are inexpensive, unassuming, and versatile. A beetle, for example, can carry objects (such as a miniature camera) that are much heavier than their own body weight.
What does this mean for the future of our privacy? These controllable insects could very well change our defense mechanisms, as well as create new forms of investigation.
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Tags: Berkeley, bugs, future, undercover, University of California, University of Michigan
This has so many applications for not just the military but also for people with disability- Discovery consists of seeing what everyone has seen, and thinking what no one else has thought – Albert Szent Gyorgi
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