Scientists prefer insects to Gov. Arnold as cyborg subjects

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Kshitij Sobti

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Posted on 15-07-2009

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Forget about hunky Austrians, it is more likely that insects will be the first cyborgs!

Ryohei Kanzaki of Tokyo University's Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology has set his mind to develop an electronic equivalent of an insect brain, an exercise that will help in our understanding of how brains work, even our own.

According to Kanzaki, "It will be possible to recreate an insect brain with electronic circuits in the future. This would lead to controlling a real brain by modifying its circuits."

The human brain has as many as 100 billion neurons forming a network so complicated the internet aught to be ashamed itself. Insects on the other hand have about a 100 thousand, making it much easier to duplicate its intricacies.

Male moths which can trace the smell of a mate from as much as a kilometer away, were genetically modifies so that they wold react to light instead of odour, or the odour some other moth.

Using this they were even able to make a moth drive an electric toy car using the smell of a female moth, (man, what these insects do for a little cooch!). The insect was even able to steer the vehicle correctly when they simulated the effect of a flat tyre. Even using a severed head of an insect (RIP) they were able to wire up the controls and make the insect-car hybrid drive itself.

As the source suggests such technology could also be used by scientists to create robots capable of detecting drugs from miles away, or finding people buried under buildings.

This isn't the end of the line tough, as Kanzaki says:
"Our brain turns the car into an extension of our body... an insect brain may be able to drive a car like we can. I think they have the potential.

It isn't interesting to make a robo-worm that crawls as slowly as the real one. We want to design a machine which is far more powerful than the living body."

We wonder how this would work with EATR. A robotics project that intends to create robotic devices which can feed on organic materials for energy! Twenty years form now your insect could be driving your car through the jungle eating squirrels and nuts on the way. One this is clear though, if Skynet does take over.. it wont have a difficult time finding and eating all humans alive.

You heard that right! Move over Schwarzenegger! Skynet would rather use insects!

Update:
Terminator 5 casting released!: