University of California researchers have figured out how to control the flight of the flower beetle by remote control. The four-inch-long insect is rigged up with a radio receiver and electrodes, allowing the controller to “tell” the bug’s muscles to move it left, right, up, down, or to hover.
The research is being funded by (who else?) the U.S. military, which hopes to turn these insects into mini spy planes by strapping cameras to their backs.
The project is ongoing. They’re still working out the bugs. (Yes, we went there.)
(Source: News of the Weird and MIT Technology Review)
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