May 30th, 2007
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.
