Here come the Ratbots

I just back from a meeting at UC Santa Barbara regarding an Army Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies (ICB). The purpose of the ICB is a center where joint interdisciplinary research between UCSB, MIT, and Caltech could be conducted. According to the Army's announcement of the ICB funding opportunity, the ultimate goal of the ICB is to "enable biotechnology-fueled revolutionary enhancement of performance of engineered systems and soldier survivability". My research doesn't seem to have direct relevance, but you've got to start somewhere.

One of the stranger things I saw yesterday was about flight control of flies, which is being studied by Prof. Michael Dickinson of Caltech. They eventually want to build a truly robotic fly. But one thing I suggested to them yesterday is, Why bother building a robot fly? Why not just learn to control the behavior of flies. Apparently flies sense where they are flying via their eyes, so you could place itty bitty helmets on their heads and then direct them remotely or something. I was told that maybe that was a good idea. And then I was told that some research had recently been done regarding remote control of rats. According to one article,

Remote-controlled rats could soon be detecting earthquake survivors or leading bomb-disposal teams to buried land mines. Signals from a laptop up to 500 metres away make the rats run, climb, jump and even cross brightly lit open spaces, contrary to their instincts. The rodents carry a backpack containing a radio receiver and a power source that transmits the signals into their brains through electrical probes the breadth of a hair.

I was told that subsequent research regarding the remote control of rats (and possible higher mammals) has now become classified. What does the future hold??

Ahhh, probably requires determination, patience, and maybe even a little math to hold the government accountable. Despite the effort, we should probably think about the deeper ethical and spiritual issues related to remote control of animals, be they cells, flies, super-killing-machine-grizzly-bears, or (gulp) modified robo-soldiers. One place to start is a proper reading of Genesis 1:28, which God spoke to humans when he made them

And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (King James Version)

What would Jesus say about 'ratbots'?

Okay, gotta go get my clothes outta the dryer. Tootles!