Robotic insect spies

There is a great article in New Scientist 8/3/8, 'the fly who bugged me', about insects that have had their nervous systems hijacked by IT to make them into tiny remote controlled spies. It even explains how devices can be incorporated into isects by adding them durung the pupa stage so that they make strong connections to nerves and muscles as the tissues develop.

There have been a few articles over the last few years about such technology, which has apparently been progressing nicely. Implants can be linked to nervous systems to allow remote control of a wide range of creatures, not just insects. In conjuction with tiny spy cameras, such developments are very interesting.

Electronics is shrinking all the time. It will be possible to incorporate a lot of surveillance equipment into a fly in a few years time, without making it look any different to a casual observer.

The military are of course leading the development so that they can spy on the enemy, and police will of course find many uses for tackling drug dealers and the like. But the biggest market will eventually be ordinary people wanting to spy on other ordinary people for a multitude of reasons with varying degrees of morality.