Behold the Cyborg Spy Bugs of the Future
As if our current surveillance society wasn't creepy enough, the wave of the spying future may come on the backs of creepy-crawlies. No joke -- in tiny beetle "backpacks" or perhaps hitched around their wing muscles. Read it and get skeeved out.
As if our current surveillance society wasn’t creepy enough, the wave of the spying future may come on the backs of creepy-crawlies. No joke — in tiny “backpacks” or perhaps hitched around their wing muscles. Read it and get skeeved out. –KA
WAIT, BEFORE YOU GO…BBC:
The University of Michigan team of engineers published their study in the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering.
The report noted that, despite major advances in micro-air-vehicle technology, no-one had been able to match the aerodynamic performance and manoeuvring capability of insects.
However, it said that if insects were to be equipped with control mechanisms and other add-on kit, the equipment would require a power source.
The team rejected the idea of using miniature solar panels because they would be dependent on available light. So the group decided to develop a vibration energy collector.
The resulting device consists of a tiny three-layered spiral generator.
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If you follow the words, one Middle East comes into view; if you follow the weapons, quite another.
There is no indication that any of the contending forces in Afghanistan, including the Taliban, are interested in bringing al-Qaida back. On the contrary, all the available evidence indicates that the Arab fighters are unwelcome and that it is their isolation from their former patrons that has led to their demise. There is no indication that any of the contending forces in Afghanistan, including the Taliban, are interested in bringing al-Qaida back.
Elements of the U.S. defense industry have yet to join the rest of the country in the post-Cold-War reality, according to President Obama, who also gave legislators who capitalize on the defense budget for self-serving reasons a verbal spanking as he addressed an audience of veterans in Phoenix on Monday.
The embrace by any society of permanent war is a parasite that devours the heart and soul of a nation. Permanent war extinguishes liberal, democratic movements. It turns culture into nationalist cant. It degrades and corrupts education and the media, and wrecks the economy.
President Bush's outrageous military budget has nothing do with fighting terrorism but everything to do with pumping up the profits of the administration's generous political donors in the defense industry. So, the question is: Will the Democrats have the guts to stop this betrayal of the public trust?
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