A swarming army of cyborg bugs.
Entered By: grantb on March 28, 2008
No Observations
Wired reminds us that the U.S. military now has a functioning army of cyborg insects:
DARPA’s Hi-MEMS program aims to implant place micro-mechanical systems [MEMS] “inside the insects during the early stages of metamorphosis,” the agency explains. That way, as the bugs get older, tissues grow around — and fuse together with — the tiny machines.
Flight International reports that, in his latest work, Michelson truncated a Manduca moth’s thorax “to reduce its mass.” Then he put in “a MEMS component… where abdominal segments would have been, during the larval stage.”
So. Remote-controlled moths, roaches, bees and who knows what else.
More on Dr. Michelson‘s DARPA research here and here.
