Jun 20, 2012

The Insects Are Watching: The Future of Government Surveillance Technology

By Susanne Posel, Contributor
Activist Post
In June of 2011, the US military admitted to having drone technology so sophisticated that it could be the size of a bug.
In what is referred to as the “microaviary” on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, drones are in development and design to replicate the flight patterns of moths, hawks and other air-borne creatures of the natural world.
Greg Parker, aerospace engineer, explains: “We’re looking at how you hide in plain sight” for the purpose of carrying out espionage or kill missions.
Cessna-sized Predator drones, used to carry out unmanned attacks, are known around the world. The US Pentagon has an estimated 7,000 aerial drones in their arsenal.
In 2011, the Pentagon requested $5 billion for drones from Congress by the year 2030.
Their investigative technology is now moving toward “spy flies” equipped with sensors and mircocameras to detect enemies and nuclear weapons.
Parker is using helicopter technology to allow his computer-driven drone “dragonflies” to become precise intelligence gathering weapons.
To have a computer do it 100 per cent of the time, and to do it with winds, and to do it when it doesn’t really know where the vehicle is, those are the kinds of technologies that we’re trying to develop.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has unveiled hummingbird drones that can fly at speeds of 11 miles per hour.
DARPA is also inserting computer chips into moth pupae in the hopes of hatching “cyborg moths”.
Within DARPA is the Hybrid Insect Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems project (HIMEM), whose aim is to develop shutterbugs – insects with cameras attached to their very nervous system that can be controlled remotely. Under HIMEM, there are researchers working on cyborg beetles.
Other institutions are hard at work for the US government, developing more insect technology.
The California Institute of Technology has created a “mircobat ornithopter” that flies and fits comfortably in the palm of your hand.

Read more at http://theintelhub.com/2012/06/18/the-insects-are-watching-the-future-of-government-surveillance-technology/