Cyborg Moths
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Thread Starter
Cyborg Moths
it's not April 1st is it? 
The Times: Can cyborg moths bring down terrorists? - A moth which has a computer chip implanted in it while in the cocoon will enable soldiers to spy on insurgents, the US military hopes.
At some point in the not too distant future, a moth will take flight in the hills of northern Pakistan, and flap towards a suspected terrorist training camp. But this will be no ordinary moth. Inside it will be a computer chip that was implanted when the creature was still a pupa, in the cocoon, meaning that the moth’s entire nervous system can be controlled remotely.
The moth will thus be capable of landing in the camp without arousing suspicion, all the while beaming video and other information back to its masters via what its developers refer to as a “reliable tissue-machine interface.”
The creation of insects whose flesh grows around computer parts – known from science fiction as ‘cyborgs’ – has been described as one of the most ambitious robotics projects ever conceived by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), the research and development arm of the US Department of Defense.
Rod Brooks, director of the computer science and artificial intelligence lab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which is involved with the research, said that robotics was increasingly at the forefront of US military research, and that the remote-controlled moths, described by DARPA as Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems, or MEMS, were one of a number of technologies soon to be deployed in combat zones.
“This is going to happen," said Mr Brooks. "It’s not science like developing the nuclear bomb, which costs billions of dollars. It can be done relatively cheaply."
"Moths are creatures that need little food and can fly all kinds of places," he continued. "A bunch of experiments have been done over the past couple of years where simple animals, such as rats and cockroaches, have been operated on and driven by joysticks, but this is the first time where the chip has been injected in the pupa stage and ‘grown’ inside it. Once the moth hatches, machine learning is used to control it.”.......
The Times: Can cyborg moths bring down terrorists? - A moth which has a computer chip implanted in it while in the cocoon will enable soldiers to spy on insurgents, the US military hopes.
At some point in the not too distant future, a moth will take flight in the hills of northern Pakistan, and flap towards a suspected terrorist training camp. But this will be no ordinary moth. Inside it will be a computer chip that was implanted when the creature was still a pupa, in the cocoon, meaning that the moth’s entire nervous system can be controlled remotely.
The moth will thus be capable of landing in the camp without arousing suspicion, all the while beaming video and other information back to its masters via what its developers refer to as a “reliable tissue-machine interface.”
The creation of insects whose flesh grows around computer parts – known from science fiction as ‘cyborgs’ – has been described as one of the most ambitious robotics projects ever conceived by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), the research and development arm of the US Department of Defense.
Rod Brooks, director of the computer science and artificial intelligence lab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which is involved with the research, said that robotics was increasingly at the forefront of US military research, and that the remote-controlled moths, described by DARPA as Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems, or MEMS, were one of a number of technologies soon to be deployed in combat zones.
“This is going to happen," said Mr Brooks. "It’s not science like developing the nuclear bomb, which costs billions of dollars. It can be done relatively cheaply."
"Moths are creatures that need little food and can fly all kinds of places," he continued. "A bunch of experiments have been done over the past couple of years where simple animals, such as rats and cockroaches, have been operated on and driven by joysticks, but this is the first time where the chip has been injected in the pupa stage and ‘grown’ inside it. Once the moth hatches, machine learning is used to control it.”.......
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I propose they use bats... with their sonar, they can find and analyze roadside objects in the dark.
They can also be sent into Mosques, to monitor what is being said there.
They can call it "Project Belfry"...
They can also be sent into Mosques, to monitor what is being said there.
They can call it "Project Belfry"...
Avoid imitations
Join Date: Nov 2000
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Project "moth"-er in law..
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Thread Starter
If they operate them like UAVs, will they have pilots to fly them? They can bring 360 Sqn and it's badge back..
And if you fly moths instead of butterflies, will you have to be qualified IFR/night flying?
And if you fly moths instead of butterflies, will you have to be qualified IFR/night flying?
Gentleman Aviator
Moths would be OK for the Hairy Arm Corps I suppose ....
..... but surely butterflies would have to be officers....
....stands well back....
..... but surely butterflies would have to be officers....
....stands well back....
