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WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

While many people are focused on traditional drones there are others who are trying to create bio-machine drone hybrids, and their uses could include surveillance and other nefarious purposes.

 

At a certain point it becomes really difficult to scale down machines, after all, a tiny drone can only be so tiny, so now scientists at Draper University in the US have come up with a solution, make a drone out of a dragonfly, and one day it could be teamed up with this “cyborg” remote control mouse

 

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Researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) have genetically modified a dragonfly to make the nerve endings in its spinal cord light-sensitive. The team at Draper then attached a backpack, powered by a tiny solar panel, that can control the dragonfly remotely with flashes of light. It allows them to send the insect where they want.

 

Watch it in action

 

Is the experiment cruel to dragonflies? Entomologists believe it’s pretty unlikely that insects “feel” pain in the way we do.

 

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And the technology has some important applications. For example, it could, if we stretch the art of the possible, be used to replace bees that farmers depend on, but that are dying out at a rather alarming rate, or be used to monitor the health of beehives in a novel way. But cyborg insects like this one could also be used as the next generation of surveillance equipment – something that, funnily enough, hasn’t been lost on the Chinese or US Governments who both have their own “Cyborg insect” programs under way, and combine it with plants that can also act as surveillance devices, thanks to DARPA, and, yes, the world just got a lot weirder for you. Welcome to my world.

About author

Matthew Griffin

Matthew Griffin, described as “The Adviser behind the Advisers” and a “Young Kurzweil,” is the founder and CEO of the World Futures Forum and the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures consultancy working between the dates of 2020 to 2070, and is an award winning futurist, and author of “Codex of the Future” series. Regularly featured in the global media, including AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, RT, Viacom, and WIRED, Matthew’s ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of revolutionary emerging technologies on global culture, industry and society, is unparalleled. Recognised for the past six years as one of the world’s foremost futurists, innovation and strategy experts Matthew is an international speaker who helps governments, investors, multi-nationals and regulators around the world envision, build and lead an inclusive, sustainable future. A rare talent Matthew’s recent work includes mentoring Lunar XPrize teams, re-envisioning global education and training with the G20, and helping the world’s largest organisations envision and ideate the future of their products and services, industries, and countries. Matthew's clients include three Prime Ministers and several governments, including the G7, Accenture, Aon, Bain & Co, BCG, Credit Suisse, Dell EMC, Dentons, Deloitte, E&Y, GEMS, Huawei, JPMorgan Chase, KPMG, Lego, McKinsey, PWC, Qualcomm, SAP, Samsung, Sopra Steria, T-Mobile, and many more.

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