lördag 18 augusti 2012

Fjärrstyrda malar


Snart fjärrstyrd i ett luftrum nära dig

Ni vet i Narnia-böckerna när Vita häxan har spioner utsända i form av fåglar och djur. Det lät så läskigt när man var liten. Nu håller det på att bli verklighet, vilket gör det ännu läskigare. 

Ur artikel i The Guardian om utvecklingen av drones och UAV i övervakningssyfte: 

"Bio-inspired technology has been a source for one of the more improbable strands of drone research. DARPA has implanted gold-plated electrodes into the pupae of tobacco hawkmoths to learn how to control animals remotely, exploiting their flights.
There is also interest in such work in Britain. The MoD's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), which works from Porton Down, Wiltshire, and other locations, this summer produced a HoriZone briefing on current research "to stimulate new lines of thought".
The review, which notes that "inclusion of any information does not constitute an endorsement by DSTL or the MOD", carries reference to a US patent on an "animal sensor network". The US study, it said, aimed to develop a "method for the remote guidance and training of free-roaming animal sensor networks".
It noted: "Electrodes implanted into the nervous systems of animals are used to provide clues and rewards by stimulating specific regions of the brain to induce desired behaviours such as the direction and speed of movement.
"Each animal carries a backpack containing wireless networking equipment, sensors, and data storage and processing equipment." Animals, it suggests, could be trained in odour detection."