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Chancellor Robert Birgeneau isn’t the only one jumping aboard the hybrid bandwagon (which, we imagine, would strongly resemble a Prius). Even if UC Berkeley itself never manages to go full Borg, that certainly doesn’t mean we can’t develop them.
Beetles, that is—cyborg beetles, sponsored by the Pentagon.
We hope our nonverbal attempt at a dramatic pause allowed you sufficient time to recover. Because if you’re wondering when good ol’ tree-sitting, Yoo-hating, cupcake-driving Berkeley went all futuristic spy thriller on our hinies … well, you’re definitely not alone. Moreover, if you’re reeling in the throes of paralyzing awe at how flippin’ sweet a cyborb beetle would be, once again, we are right there with you.
To be sure, the groundbreaking project—headed by Michel Maharbiz and Hirotaka Sato—is just as cool as it sounds. Implanted with electrodes in early stages of growth, and then outfitted with a microbattery and microcontroller, the beetles in question are flown by remote control through a “radio-equipped miniature neural stimulating system.” We can only imagine PETA would be thrilled to pieces.
The possibilities engendered by such an invention are vast—and to some, of course, a little unnerving, especially given the rather obvious implication of the cyborg beetles’ future role in a military function. Noel Sharkey of Sheffield University, hypothesizing about their varied abilities, mentions the little critters’ potential for “carrying any kind of chemical or biological weapons, so you could do personal assassinations”—which is, he prefaces, “totally illegal,” by the way.
If by “illegal” he means “plausible,” then yeah, sounds about right. And now we’re off to fantasize about the fun we would have with a Borg bug to call our own …
Remote-controlled cyborg beetle [YouTube]
Remote controlled bugs buzz off [BBC News]
Tags:cyborg beetles, hybrid, Pentagon, PETA, Star Trek
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Oct 20, 2009 at 7:41 pm
[...] The Clog is creeped out by the cyborg beetles project. Me, the Clog, and Professor Brian Harvey*? Dear boyfriend, the research project you’ve been assigned to is a priori creepy. [...]