Government controlled drones, patrolling the skies and spying on citizens. A scary and evidently popular scenario for our overlords, and one which just got a little bit creepier thanks to Harvard professor Robert Wood, who has successfully built tiny robotic insects. The research, unsurprisingly funded by DARPA, is aimed at loosing the little one inch 'bots into the wild, equipped with cameras and sensors to surveil urban and battle environments.
Don't worry yet. Although the team have overcome major engineering hurdles by custom cutting the flies from carbon fiber (using lasers!), as yet they are still tethered and run on external power. But when the evil swarm is finally deployed you will have no way of knowing. As Wood says, "You probably wouldn't notice a fly in the room."
Robotic Insect Takes Off [Technology Review]
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