Posted on 02/25/2009 9:18:16 PM PST by Wontsubmit
A giant flower beetle flies about, veering up and down, left and right. But the insect isn't a pest, and it isn't steering its own path. An implanted receiver, microcontroller, microbattery, and six carefully placed electrodes--a payload smaller than a dime and weighing less than a stick of gum--allow an engineer to control the bug wirelessly. By remotely delivering jolts of electricity to its brain and wing muscles, the engineer can make the cyborg beetle take off, turn, or stop midflight.
The beetle's creator, Michel Maharbiz, hopes that his bugs will one day carry sensors or other devices to locations....
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