Surveillance Moths

[x-y-no]

Part of me is apalled at the privacy/security implications ... part of me says "wow, neat!"

DARPA plans to turn moths into cyberspies

In a project that seems like it was hatched from the brain of a science fiction writer, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is growing computer chips around insects for use in surveillance, reports The Times.

DARPA is implanting computer chips in moths while still in the pupa stage. The moth grows around the the chip and its nervous system can be controlled by a remote control.

The project is called the Hybrid Insect Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (HI-MEMS) and it also includes outfitting other insects with miniscule sensors and a wireless transmitter which could send data from places inaccesible to humans.

It is hoped that one day, a sensor-enabled insect with a 100-yard range could be placed within five meters of a target using electronic remote control and, potentially, Global Positioning System technologies.

Ultimately, the moth will be able to land in enemy camps in remote location unobserved, beaming video and other information back via what its developers refer to as a “reliable tissue-machine interface.”

This latest development will allow the moth cyborgs to spy on enemy insurgents, and is the most advanced robotic technology ever conceived by DARPA.

http://government.zdnet.com/?p=3189

[rsdoug1981]

Used properly, it could be an effective 'drone' surveillance weapon for use against enemy troops. The Pentagon has been trying to develop such a drone that could fly though buildings/hallways for years. I'm not worried about the privacy implications. If it gets in my house, it will become one with my shoe. And if I'm outside, google earth will find me long before the moth does.

Here are some more of DARPA's bright ideas:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4174519.stm

[somethingfunny]

So with the use of these new surveillance moths, the FBI and the CIA will have a really good picture of what's going on in the immediate vicinity of streetlights and car headlights, and not much else... why not use june bugs?

[abajan]

All this "Brave New World" stuff scares me. Every day "The Matrix" is looking more and more like reality.

[alicia-w]

neat stuff! the govt's been using swarms of drones for years now.

[O Town]

I guess that gives new meaning to that old phrase.........If I could be a fly on the wall.
Unbelievable stuff they could do now. Wow, a little freaky.

[HURAKAN]

Sometimes fiction is more scary than science fiction.