Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
"The answer to the problem of information overload on the Net is reputations… engineer a system called a reputation server."
- Neal Stephenson
 |
| Brain-Jacking | ||
| Using insects for surveillance. |
| “It’s a South American flower beetle-its territory ends four thousand miles south of here.” She plucked it from the raven’s beak. Huginn didn’t put up too much fuss. She examined the beetle as its wings beat furiously to escape. But McKinney was an old hand at handling live insects. The others gathered around her, and she pointed at what appeared to be a large third eye in the center of its head. “How did it get here?”
Odin leaned close to it. “Someone get me a knife…” McKinney moved over to the bar, as Foxy started rooting around through drawers. “Get me some tweezers and a couple pins if you can find them.” “Right.” He handed her a loose razor blade he found in a utility drawer and kept searching. McKinney held up the huge beetle to the light as Odin sat on the barstool next to her. It was immediately apparent that the bug had been “altered.” McKinney pointed with the razor blade tip at two plastic objects underneath each wing. “I’ve seen this before.” “What do you mean you’ve seen it before? Where?” “At an entomology conference a couple years ago. These are tiny generators, capturing the wing movement to power microelectronics.” Odin looked incredulous. “It wasn’t classified-it was brain research. They were looking for a research grant.” Foxy handed her several sewing needles in a mug and a pair of tweezers. “Thanks.” She put the razor blade down and grabbed a needle-sticking it straight through the beetle’s brain, killing it, as she anchored the beetle to the bar top. Though dead, the insect’s legs were still scrabbling at the wood. “Hard core, Professor.” “We’ll see…” She then took the razor blade and started dissecting the beetle, peeling back the carapace to get at the brain. Almost immediately, she noticed fine fiber-optic threads leading from a tiny camera lens into an electronic device the size of a grain of rice. She used the tweezers to tease it away from the brain and up into the light. It looked like a tiny CCTV camera and antenna assembly, with Asian characters printed on it. Odin studied it. “We’re through the looking glass, people.” “Chinese.” Odin pushed away from the bar. “That’s just the camera’s manufacturer, Foxy.” McKinney nodded. “The conference presentation was on ‘brain-jacking.’ They insert the transmitter directly into the insect’s brain-adding it at the larval stage so the insect grows around it. They leverage an existing nervous system to make a remote-controlled minidrone out of a living thing. All you do is activate the neurons that handle flying, turning, crawling, whatever, and the bug’s own nervous system handles the rest. We all thought the guy was sick. Apparently he found a receptive audience in the military.” |
| Technovelgy from Kill Decision,
by Daniel Suarez. Published by Penguin in 2012 Additional resources -
|
Read the article on HI-MEMS: Cyborg Beetle Microsystem for information about how this is actually being done, as well as other science fiction antecedents.
Compare to the Roachster from Sparrowhawk (1990) by Thomas A. Easton and the housefly monitor from Lies, Inc. (1964) by Philip K. Dick.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Kill Decision
More Ideas
and Technology by Daniel Suarez
Tech news articles related to Kill Decision
Tech news articles related to works by Daniel Suarez
| Amazon One Is Frank Herbert's Palm Lock |
| Who Needs Dogs? Trained Bees Detect Explosives |
| Government In-Home Surveillance - Yes! Say Third Of Under-30 Adults |
| New Train Station Offers Minority Report-Style Signs |
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a
quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add
it here.
| <Previous | Next> |
|
|
|
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
'It's done with a flip of the third joint of the tentacle on the down beat.'
'If you surf over a bump... If you surf over a pothole...'
'Then the spreading beam of the deranging ray struck them, and they stood an instant transfixed...'
'Noiselessly, on rubber-tired wheels, they journeyed...'
'...copy two of the original document no longer can be superimposed on copy one.'
My prize robot, tall, dashing would speak and act for me...
'A palm lock must be keyed to one individual's hand shape and palm lines.'
'I have transferred the ego of a dog to a synthetic dog brain in the skull case of a robot dog.'
