Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Real Insecticons?

Modern technology at the hands of the government and military is both fascinating and terrifying. If they can create flying drones the size of insects that can spy on enemy locations, what's to stop the FBI and CIA from employing those same creations against the average US citizen? If you think racial profiling is troublesome now, imagine if they start sending these things through your apartment window just because you "match the description" of a guy selling drugs in the area.

From Yahoo News:
Miniature robots could be good spies, but researchers now are experimenting with insect cyborgs or "cybugs" that could work even better.

...The military and spy world no doubt would love tiny, live camera-wielding versions of Predator drones that could fly undetected into places where no human could ever go to snoop on the enemy. Developing such robots has proven a challenge so far, with one major hurdle being inventing an energy source for the droids that is both low weight and high power. Still, evidence that such machines are possible is ample in nature in the form of insects, which convert biological energy into flight.

I know, I know—I sound like a conspiracy theorist. But you have to admit, the prospect is unsettling. The full article can be read here.

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