Israeli and American scientists are experimenting with various insects for intelligence purposes in future military conflicts, writes Francesco Battistini on the Corriere della Sera website.
“Spies of the future? A secret weapon that will be used to gather information about Iranian nuclear facilities? At first glance, these are a hundred common snails. But if you take a closer look at them, you will notice that they differ from ordinary invertebrates: each has a ball of tiny electrodes, also called Buckypaper, sheets of carbon nanotubes. It is thanks to these electrodes that snails, like scarabs and many other insects, can become a new frontier for espionage in the near future,”the journalist says.
Insects and other small living things can be connected to video cameras, acoustic or gas sensors, surveillance systems, recognition devices, and any other electronic systems. “They can be used for any purpose,” explain scientists from Beer Sheva University. "To spy on the enemy, but also to study the sites of disasters, to look for people under the ruins after earthquakes, to power medical equipment."
“Israeli and American scientists have been working in this field for many years. Funding is carried out mainly by the military departments. In the course of observing snails, the researchers came to the conclusion that with the help of electrodes, using glucose, which is contained in the hemolymph, from the animal it is possible to obtain as much energy as is necessary for the long and autonomous operation of tiny video cameras or tele-observation sensors. So far, you can get as much energy from a snail as it contains in an AAA battery, but scientists believe that this figure can be improved,”the article says.
“American and Israeli scientists are studying the possibility of using insects, shellfish, even mold for intelligence purposes, so as not to endanger the lives of military personnel. In fact, living microrobots can be directed anywhere using special impulses. If only the enemy did not use an insecticide …”- concludes the author of the article.