BURLAP Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 U.S. military plans to make insect cyborgs By SHAUN WATERMAN UPI Homeland and National Security Editor http://www.upi.com/inc/view.php?StoryID=20...12-073227-3194r WASHINGTON, March 12 (UPI) -- Facing problems in its efforts to train insects or build robots that can mimic their flying abilities, the U.S. military now wants to develop "insect cyborgs" that can go where its soldiers cannot. The Pentagon is seeking applications from researchers to help them develop technology that can be implanted into living insects to control their movement and transmit video or other sensory data back to their handlers. In an announcement posted on government Web sites last week, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, says it is seeking "innovative proposals to develop technology to create insect cyborgs," by implanting tiny devices into insect bodies while the animals are in their pupal stage. As an insect metamorphoses from a larva to an adult, the solicitation notice says, its "body goes through a renewal process that can heal wounds and reposition internal organs around foreign objects, including tiny (mechanical) structures that might be present." The goal is to create technology that can achieve "the delivery of an insect within five meters of a specific target located at hundred meters away, using electronic remote control, and/or global positioning system." Once at the target, "the insect must remain stationary either indefinitely or until otherwise instructed ... (and) must also be able to transmit data from (Department of Defense) relevant sensors ... includ(ing) gas sensors, microphones, video, etc." The move follows challenges the agency says it has encountered in its efforts to train insects to detect explosives or other chemical compounds, and to mimic their flight and movement patterns using small robots. Several years ago, DARPA launched a $3 million project to train honeybees to find landmines. According to a report by the American Forces Press Service, scientists used sugar-soaked sponges treated with explosives to get the bees to identify the smell as a possible food source. But last week's solicitation says the project didn't work out. "These activities have highlighted key challenges involving behavioral and chemical control of insects... Instinctive behaviors for feeding and mating -- and also for responding to temperature changes -- prevented them from performing reliably," it says. As far as the development of purely robotic or mechanical unmanned aerial vehicles -- so-called micro-UAVs -- the solicitation says that developing energy sources both powerful and light enough "present(s) a key technical challenge." Both sets of challenges "might be effectively overcome" by the development of insect cyborgs, says the solicitation. The devices DARPA wants to implant are micro-electro-mechanical systems, or MEMS. MEMS technology uses tiny silicon wafers like those used as the basis for computer microchips. But instead of merely laying circuits on them, MEMS technology can actually cut and shape the silicon, turning the chip into a microscopic mechanical device. The solicitation envisages the implanted device as a "platform" onto which "various microsystem payloads can be mounted ... with the goal of controlling insect locomotion, sens(ing) local environment, and scaveng(ing) power." "Possible methods of locomotion control may be sensory manipulation, direct muscle interface, or neural interface to the insect," says the document, known as a Broad Agency Announcement. It goes on to say that sensory manipulation, for instance by projecting ultrasonic vibrations or ejecting pheromones, is likely to be species-specific, whereas technology to directly control insect muscles or brains "may be more general." DARPA believes that the heat and mechanical power generated by the insects themselves as they move around "may be harnessed to power the microsystem payload" eliminating the need for batteries or other power systems. The objective is to transform the insects into "predictable devices that can be used for various micro-UAV missions requiring unobtrusive entry into areas inaccessible or hostile to humans." Among potential missions, says the solicitation, would be the collection of "explosive signatures from within buildings, caves, or other inaccessible locations." Although flying insects like dragonflies and moths are "of great interest," the document says, "Hopping and swimming insects could also meet final demonstration goals." Implanting the devices during pupation is key, says the document, because "the insects are immobile and can be manipulated without interference from instinctive motion." As part of their honeybee training project, DARPA glued tiny radio transmitters to the bees, to help track their movement. The solicitation says that the healing processes which insects go through as they change from larvae into adults "are expected to yield more reliable bio-electromechanical interface... as compared to adhesively bonded systems to adult insects." Inserting the devices in pupae could also "enable assembly-line like fabrication of hybrid insect-MEMS interfaces, providing a considerable cost advantage," says the solicitation. DARPA will hold a day-long conference for contractors interested in submitting proposals on March 24. © Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lord_casek Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 they've had a cat, some roaches, and some mice.... all remote controled (so to speak). these fucknuggets are just blowing our money. oh, i forgot about the shark and the dolphins. heard about their plans fro nanotech? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BURLAP Posted March 16, 2006 Author Share Posted March 16, 2006 i haven't heard, and i don't think i want to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawood Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 the scary thing is, when people develop technology like this It's only a matter of time before every Joe flipperhead with some money to burn can get one and use it for whatever he wants. (as if our good guy govt. is'nt bad enough.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smart Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 Well, as far as I know the Dolphins are just 'trained'... not really 'controlled'... but yeah, sharks and roaches... So, in the future when you squish some nasty ass roach on your back porch you'll be squishing a couple thousand dollars of 'device' and can be arrested for destruction of government property... so, whether you're guilty of whatever they're investigating or not, you've also just obsructed justice so warrants of all sorts are suddenly valid and you're gonna be a smaller dot than the robo-roach you crushed to start it all. BIG BROTHER loves you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villain Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 yo i squashed this bug the other day and it fucking exploded and shot something into my eye. yeah my life is that crazy for some reason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lord_casek Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 Originally posted by Smart@Mar 16 2006, 02:09 AM Well, as far as I know the Dolphins are just 'trained'... not really 'controlled'... but yeah, sharks and roaches... So, in the future when you squish some nasty ass roach on your back porch you'll be squishing a couple thousand dollars of 'device' and can be arrested for destruction of government property... so, whether you're guilty of whatever they're investigating or not, you've also just obsructed justice so warrants of all sorts are suddenly valid and you're gonna be a smaller dot than the robo-roach you crushed to start it all. BIG BROTHER loves you. Quoted post well, not thousands. i'd expect that they would be smart enough to wait (maybe hey have waited) until technology that (cool?) advanced costs a little less before they unleash the robot cockroach army. as far as dolphins, i've heard other than being just trained, they have also been a part of the implant experiments. the cat was the coolest. they were making it walk forward, left, right, and piss on things. all central nervous system type activity. oh, and it could jump.i wonder how the cat felt about that? insects are like robots anyway. cats, sharks, and dolphins probably have a little mroe advanced nervous systems. possibly allowing them to construct thoughts above toddler (human) level. anyhow, that's a whole other debate/discussion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villain Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 sounds like something out of a comic book. some nut job with a bunch of rats or roaches or some shit he commands to go and kill. Saint Gulik This is Saint Gulik. He is the Messenger of the Goddess. A different age from ours called him ``Hermes.'' Many people called him by many names. He is a roach. Actually, the amazing thing about Saint Gulik is that he's really all roaches. Remember that bunch you saw a few weeks ago? That was all one roach moving really, really fast. In fact, whenever you ``step on a roach,'' all that's really happening is that Gulik sees your foot coming (at about the rate you see the stars wheeling across the night sky), he rushes off, builds a Gulik mockup and leaves it where your foot is about to hit. And he does all this in his spare time. Now that's fast. For yet more information (oh, you are a glutton for punishment), see Discordian Saints. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest imported_El Mamerro Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 Originally posted by Dawood@Mar 15 2006, 09:13 PM the scary thing is, when people develop technology like this It's only a matter of time before every Joe flipperhead with some money to burn can get one and use it for whatever he wants. (as if our good guy govt. is'nt bad enough.) Quoted post Technology trickling down to the consumer level is actually a good thing in the grand scheme of things like this. Control of the technology comes back down to us. It's dangerous when it stays in the hands of a knowledgeable few. I've heard about the roaches and mice, but not the cat. That sounds insane. Got any links, casek? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BURLAP Posted March 16, 2006 Author Share Posted March 16, 2006 the cat is an old school cia thing...it had an antennae in it's tail and was supposed to eavesdrop on the russians, but i believe it got smucked by a car in the process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest imported_El Mamerro Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 Well, that sounds fairly straightforward, but it's quite removed from the remote-controlled cat casek is talking about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smart Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 Originally posted by BURLAP@Mar 16 2006, 11:34 AM the cat is an old school cia thing...it had an antennae in it's tail and was supposed to eavesdrop on the russians, but i believe it got smucked by a car in the process. Quoted post Yeah, I've heard of that cat... the 'bugged' one... but it was surely only 'trained'. That happened in the 60's. They spent tons of money training up this cat and getting the electronics working and the first time they sent it out it got crushed crossing the street to the Russian embasy. Then the project was scrapped. I've always wondered about those CIA agents... get all riled up to do this super duper thing, set it in motion and within minutes you got nothin... reminds me of Las Vegas, or Homer Simpson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dumy Posted March 16, 2006 Share Posted March 16, 2006 so nuts... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawood Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 Originally posted by El Mamerro+Mar 16 2006, 01:36 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (El Mamerro - Mar 16 2006, 01:36 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteBegin-Dawood@Mar 15 2006, 09:13 PM the scary thing is, when people develop technology like this It's only a matter of time before every Joe flipperhead with some money to burn can get one and use it for whatever he wants. (as if our good guy govt. is'nt bad enough.) Quoted post Technology trickling down to the consumer level is actually a good thing in the grand scheme of things like this. Control of the technology comes back down to us. It's dangerous when it stays in the hands of a knowledgeable few. I've heard about the roaches and mice, but not the cat. That sounds insane. Got any links, casek? Quoted post [/b] yeah, it's a good thing. and privacy is a bad thing. just keep saying it over and over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villain Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 Hopefully countersurveillance doesn't become a necessary part of everyday life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaolinmasta Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 fuck that is some shit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest imported_El Mamerro Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 Originally posted by Dawood@Mar 16 2006, 10:24 PM yeah, it's a good thing. and privacy is a bad thing. just keep saying it over and over. Quoted post What I mean to say is that if the technology trickles down to the consumer, we can figure out the way to work against it and set a level of control over it. If only a select few people have access and knowledge about it, there's absolutely nothing we can do about it while they use it for whatever they want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lord_casek Posted March 17, 2006 Share Posted March 17, 2006 mammero: there's a base down there in PR where alot of this new tech is being and has been developed. do the people know much about it? i know the offshore nuke tests are obvious, or were obvious. guess they don't do it much anymore? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest imported_El Mamerro Posted March 18, 2006 Share Posted March 18, 2006 I don't know about those nuke tests. I wouldn't bank on your sources. There were a LOT of explosives tests on Vieques, probably the main reason for the protests that eventually ousted the Navy, but not nukes. Vieques and the Ceiba base have been closed down and the land returned to PR, and the remaining US bases are on their way out. Ft. Buchanan is probably the only truly active base at the moment, I believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BURLAP Posted March 23, 2006 Author Share Posted March 23, 2006 soooo...what about that cat casek? is there a newer improved version of the 60's CIA fuzzer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BURLAP Posted March 23, 2006 Author Share Posted March 23, 2006 how about this action... http://news.com.com/Bacteria+could+power+t..._3-6050161.html Bacteria could power tiny robots By Michael Kanellos Staff Writer, CNET News.com Published: March 15, 2006, 1:02 PM PST A strain of bacteria that releases electrons as a waste product could become the secret ingredient for developing fuel cells for spy drones and other small robots. Researchers at Rice University and the University of Southern California have embarked on a project to harness the power of Shewanella oneidensis, a microorganism that essentially spits lightning. Rather than consume oxygen to turn food into energy, Shewanella consumes metals. The waste product of its metabolic process comes in the form of excess electrons stripped from the metals but not recombined in subsequent chemical reactions. The bacteria lives in soil, water and other environments and can extract its necessary nutrients from a variety of materials. In a fuel cell, the idea is that colonies of Shewanella will attach themselves to the anode, a component inside fuel cells and batteries that gathers electrons, and produce electrons. "You can feed them pretty much what is available," said Andreas Luttge, an associate professor of earth sciences and chemistry at Rice. "The goal would be to feed them waste water and produce energy." Hybrid fuel cells--where one strain of bacteria feeds off the waste product of another to produce electricity--are also possible. Microbes could become one of the crucial ingredients in the future of the energy industry. Researchers at Stanford University have isolated a microbe that turns light into hydrogen, which could become a fuel source. Meanwhile, Craig Venter, the first person to map the human genome, has formed a company that will try to develop energy-producing microbes. While the concept is feasible, researchers now have to figure out how to optimize the processes involved in creating a fuel cell. Kenneth Nealson, the USC Wrigley chair in environmental studies and professor of earth sciences and biological sciences, will head up the research on altering the genetic pathways of Shewanella for maximum electron production. Nealson is one of the pioneers of geobiology and has conducted extensive research on how microbes survive in oxygen poor environments. Luttge and others at Rice will experiment with the anode to improve bacterial attachment and other parameters. In the next five years, the team wants to develop a fuel cell that can propel itself. The research is funded by $4.4 million from the Department of Defense's Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative. The Defense Department is determined to put more robots in the field to transport equipment, conduct battle operations, or serve as reconnaissance vehicles. Conceivably, a small robot powered by a bacteria fuel cell could shuttle a camera or listening device unobtrusively next to someone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BioNix Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 what if it's just a distraction for something else they are planning why would they let anyone know what they are up to when it comes to crap like this....i figure they let you believe what they want you to believe so they can do stuff behind your back fucken jerkoffs.... :clown2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.