This Week in the Mercury

<i>Madame Butterfly</i>

Theater

Madame Butterfly

Portland Opera Takes on Puccini's Tale of Love and Betrayal


A Month of Letters

Books

A Month of Letters

Mary Robinette Kowal's Hand-Written Challenge



  |  

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Tech Solar Powered Beetle Assassins Coming Soon

Posted by Sarah Mirk on Tue, Oct 13, 2009 at 10:29 AM

For those of you worried that the massive chunk of the US budget given over to the military is being frittered away, heartening news! According to various sources, the Pentagon is currently working on developing remote controlled solar-powered cyborg beetle spies:

The Pentagon has funded a project at UC Berkley in which scientists have successfully grafted electrodes and tiny radio antennae to flying beetles—allowing researchers to steer the beetles by remote control.... According to robotics professor Noel Sharkey of UK's Sheffield University, there's not too much that the Pentagon could with the beetles right now. GPS systems or other tracking devices are too heavy and cumbersome to fit on beetles' backs. But he notes that the cyborg beetles could feasibly carry chemical weapons and could be effective assassins, though this would be highly illegal.

cyborg-beetles-solar-power.jpg

Two thoughts:
1) WTF?
2) Is this what happens when kids raised on Disney grow up to work for the government? The last time I recall seeing a menacing cyborg beetle was in the first scene of Aladdin, when Jafar uses one to open the Cave of Wonders. (right?)
2a) In that case, when is the Pentagon going to get cracking on implanting Eddie Murphy voiceboxes into lizards?

Okay, that's it. Rather than watching the liveblog of the healthcare debate, I'm going to spend the rest of the day listening to "I'm Proud to Be an American."

 

Comments (2) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment
1
there is some evidence the gov has used this on protesters in the US. or a variation of this anyway. Fake DRAGONFLY like creatures which are actually cameras being deployed as survelliance on protesters in DC.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/10/9/10…

they say I'm paranoid but it's all true. ha
Posted by Mizzzzzzz on October 13, 2009 at 10:40 AM · Report
2
Just because you are paranoid doesn't mean they aren't really out to get you. :-)
Posted by Matthew D on October 13, 2009 at 10:43 AM · Report

Add a comment

Our Friends

Our Enemies

/images/adoftheweek.gif

ad of the day

The Handyman Pro - Your Honey-Do Specialist
Don’t let our name fool you. The Handyman Pro, LLC is a repair and remodel service provider with over 25-years experience. We cover all aspects of construction and repairs for residential and commercial clients.go


post an ad

All contents © Index Newspapers, LLC

115 SW Ash St. Suite 600
Portland, OR 97204

Contact Info | Privacy Policy | Production Guidelines | Terms of Use