Forget about being half-human and half-machine – it seems that it would be easier to churn out a cyborg insect instead, coming in the form of a moth. The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) are looking in a new generation of remote-controlled insects which could eventually function as a spy when perfected. First of all, they would need to unlock the mysteries of the nervous systems of insects in order to know just how they fly. It seems that a probe can be implanted into moths, where electrodes there can stimulate the brains and wing muscles of insects, but the accuracy level is not what DARPA wants. Joel Voldman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his colleagues have come across a better solution – a special and flexible neural probe which can be attached straight to an insect’s ventral nerve cord (VNC), where alongside the brain, comprises the entire central nervous system in insects.
Tethered moths prove that stimulating one side of the VNC will turn the moth’s abdomen one way, and vice versa – and the amount of “turn” largely depends on the current strength, which will range anywhere from 1 to 10 microamperes. It will still be some time down the road before cyborg insects actually take flight, so go ahead and zap those flies around the table without any regret – you will not be destroying thousands of dollars worth of military equipment.
Filed in ..