Covert Robot Assassins: Could Secret Miniature Technologies Take Down the Regime in Syria?
In the not-too-distant future, robo-worms, bug-eyed assassins and their cyberdrone cousins could slither and swarm against command and control targets, including senior leaders like Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad.
12 August 2012
(STARpod.us) — The merging of cybernetic control and micro-electro-mechanical control systems has opened up a radical new means of attacking human military command and control assets: Here come the 21st Century Bug-Eyed Assassins.
In the not-too-distant future, it may become acceptable to drop clouds of miniature robotic assassins — swarms of insect-like remote controllable machines — against enemy targets.
The potential for remote controlled covert assassinations was first brought to our attention by an Iranian physicist.
Remote controllable insects and their artificial robotic imitations are currently being promoted as covert spies. The development of tiny electronic control systems and miniature cameras has opened up a world of stealthy insect drones capable of slipping unobserved into military command and control centers. By adding the capability of delivering a lethal dose of toxin, the bug-eyed spies could be converted into robotic assassins. DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, is currently working on various technologies needed to eventually create bug-eyed-assassins, although that is not their stated goal.
Swarms of robotic assassins could be covertly targeted against individuals in sensitive command and control positions, including senior leadership. By overwhelming the response capability of conventional defense forces, thousands of insect-sized machines or even real biological creatures modified by microelectronics could revolutionize urban warfare.
“Researchers at MIT, Harvard University and Seoul National University have engineered a soft autonomous robot that moves via peristalsis, crawling across surfaces by contracting segments of its body, much like an earthworm. The robot, made almost entirely of soft materials, is remarkably resilient: Even when stepped upon or bludgeoned with a hammer, the robot is able to inch away, unscathed.”
Development of micro-robotic armies for spying and assassination would add a powerful new capability for 21st Century world crisis management.
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Copyright (c) 2011 by STARstream Research / STARpod.org — All rights reserved.
