Every now and then, the journey of us digital immigrants takes an interesting turn. As we adjust to this digital world to catch up with the digital natives, we can uncover some rather interesting information along the way. Recently, I’ve come across some weird information that I must share.
Even though I’ve gone camping and hiking, I’ve never claimed to be the outdoorsy type. As a youngster I went to band camp and cheerleading camp. I’ve even done a little hiking in Zermatt Switzerland. However, my camping and hiking hobbies have been curtailed for one small reason…that reason being of the creepy, crawly type. Admittedly, I don’t like bugs. I try to maintain an ongoing contract with them, one that requires that they stay outdoors. Most obey, but some don’t. Nevertheless, a bug has always been a bug....until now.
Thanks to today’s technology, in the near future, that little bug might be more than just a bug. In fact, researchers are now growing insects with electronics inside them. Yes, you’ve read that correctly. The Pentagon is creating cyborg remote controlled moths and flying beetles. DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), the Pentagon’s research arm, has created a program called HI-HEMS (Hybrid Insect Micro-Mechanical Systems). If you’re interested, author Nick Turse has done some incredible work in this area. According to him, DARPA’s aim with this project is designed to turn “insects into unmanned air-vehicles.” So, in the very near future, that bug that you’re looking at on your screen just might be looking right back at ya’…with surveillance and all, recording your every move.
Now, if this isn’t strange enough, once the program is completed, some of the purposes outlined for using such bugs will be for surveillance, and in the future, as possible bio weapons. In fact, these “insect cyborgs” could be used as military micro-surveillance systems.
In addition, researchers at Harvard Microrobotics Laboratory are creating small insect-like robots that will eventually be outfitted with “onboard sensors, flight controls and batteries” to fit around obstacles and into places that humans can’t access.
But hold on, it gets even odder. Turse goes on to uncover information from defense tech-expert Noah Schactman of Wired magazine who reported that “DARPA projects have equipped rats with electronic equipment and remotely controlled sharks, while the military has utilized all sorts of animals, from bomb-detecting honeybees and chickens used as early-warning sensors for chemical attacks to guard dogs and dolphins trained to hunt mines…robots that resemble dogs, monkeys that control robotic limbs with their minds, and numerous other projects inspired by nature.”
Well, not sure about you, but I’ll never look at a bug (or any other of the above mentioned animals) the same ever again.
