Cyborg beetles commandeered for test flight, laser beams not (yet) included

Remember that DARPA initiative from a few years back to create cyborg insects? With funding from the agency, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have managed to control a rhinoceros beetle via radio signals, demonstrated in a flight test shown on video at this week's IEEE MEMS 2009 conference. A module placed on the arthropod uses six electrodes affixed to the brain and muscles to commandeer its free will. The device weighs 1.3g -- much less than the 3g payload these guys can handle, and with enough wiggle room to attach sensors for surveillance. Ultimately, scientists say they want to use the beetle's own sensors -- namely, its eyes -- to capture intel and its own body energy to power the apparatus. Keep an eye on this one, we expect it to play a major role in the impending robots vs. humans war.

[Thanks, Mimosa]

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 29th 2009 11:36AM]

This really bugs me. Science can be a pest sometimes and really get under your skin. The scientist that came up with this must be a real louse. There has been a plague of questionable research lately.

[GingerFox Posted Jan 29th 2009 12:19PM]

how many bug jokes did you manage to get into that? lol

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 29th 2009 12:35PM]

I was shooting for as many as possible, but I'm at work, so creativity suffered. :^( At first I was crawling with ideas, but they fled like cockroaches when you turn on the light. Skittering away faster than I could deploy the mental flypaper, I was left with the larvae of an idea for my next post. BTW I was wondering what would happen if your RAIDed these fabulous little abominations.


Waiter, what's this fly doing in my soup?

Looks like the backstroke sir.

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 29th 2009 1:21PM]

Haha

Waiter, what's this fly doing in my soup?

Hmm...looks like it's doing a little recon.

[Rick36 Posted Jan 29th 2009 12:09PM]

Maybe the EPA could fund a program to wire up dung beetles to more efficiently get rid of all the cow, dog, and people flop out in the environment.

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 29th 2009 12:22PM]

I doubt peta would even care about bugs. Last time I checked, most of them will probably be outliving our race.

[looselycoupled Posted Jan 29th 2009 4:36PM]

Are they going to be outfitted with dung bombs too?

[Eternal Density Posted Jan 29th 2009 7:59PM]

"Cyborg beetles" - what about Herbie with laser beams?
Or... cyborg Beatles...

[Hackettman Posted Jan 29th 2009 9:33PM]

Can we have these things take on the times when we have wild bees killing people. Maybe a war between the two.

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 30th 2009 12:16PM]

That's terrible. These scientists should be shot.