At UC Berkeley, researchers assembled a radio controlled signal vest that has an interface with the brain and muscles of a giant flower beetle. The insect, seemingly to have completely lost its own will, can be controlled to start and stop, as well as turn while in flight. Though there must be potential future medical applications from this research, the only one that comes to mind right now is the ability to help humans to assimilate into The Borg.
Read on at MIT Technology Review…
Image: Giant flower beetle carrying a microprocessor, radio receiver, and microbattery and implanted with several electrodes. Credit: Michel Maharbiz
Click to view a video demonstrating the beetle’s flight: