Researchers Implant Neural-Monitoring RFID Into a Moth

Researchers Implant Neural-Monitoring RFID Into a Moth 39

Posted by timothy on Friday November 06, 2009 @07:30AM from the wasn't-flapping-at-the-time dept.

TechRev_AL writes "A team from the University of Washington has attached an RFID chip capable of sensing neural activity to a live moth, to pick up the spikes that occur as it beats its wings. Most neural implants are still relatively bulky, but the Washington researchers wanted to show the components in an RFID could be adapted for the same purpose. The NeuralWISP chip is a collection of low-power components such as a specialized signal amplifier, on a circuit board just over two centimeters long. The circuitry converts usable power from the reader — roughly 430 microwatts — to a voltage that can turn on a microcontroller. The sensor is also configured to 'wake up' only when a neuron fires. The ultimate goal is to create more compact, wirelessly-powered brain and nervous system implants for people."

Researchers Implant Neural-Monitoring RFID Into a Moth

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Talk about feeding the conspiracy theorists (Score:4, Funny)

by mikael_j ( 106439 ) writes: on Friday November 06, 2009 @07:42AM (#30004434)

You know all those "the government place a transmitter in my brain" people are going to have a field day with this one. Now they get to panic about government mind-control and RFID (or in their lingo "the mark of the beast") at the same time.
/Mikael

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- Re: (Score:2)
  
  by Yetihehe ( 971185 ) writes:
  
  They could use popular "cure" for rfid tags which works for passports with rfid - put their head inside microwave.
  - Re: (Score:1)
    
    by cmiller173 ( 641510 ) writes:
    
    I thought you could just hit the rfid tag with a hammer really hard...
- control (Score:1)
  
  by p51d007 ( 656414 ) writes:
  
  Coming to a human near you :)
- Re: (Score:1)
  
  by Proteus Child ( 535173 ) writes:
  
  Great. My plan for world domination just went public.
- Re: (Score:2)
  
  by LifesABeach ( 234436 ) writes:
  
  I was thinking that this would make a good DARPA project. The Intelligence community has been looking for a method to send a listening device to a place without human intervention for some time. I was thinking that a female Praying Mantis would make a better courier. The problem with using apex predators is that they often do other things that might draw attention.
Debugging (Score:4, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Friday November 06, 2009 @07:50AM (#30004464)

Wonder if they've gotten all the bugs out yet?

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We will add your biological and technological.... (Score:2, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes:

... distinctiveness to our own.
Resistance is Futile.
- Re: (Score:2)
  
  by somersault ( 912633 ) writes:
  
  Ooh, that sun is BRIGHT! Two of Googolplex-and-three, set course for the centre of that star!
- Re:We will add your biological and technological.. (Score:3, Funny)
  
  by SailorSpork ( 1080153 ) writes:
  
  No no, this is the birth of the Insecticons! Ahh, sweet childhood...
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insecticons [wikipedia.org]
- Re: (Score:2)
  
  by mcgrew ( 92797 ) * writes:
  
  Resistance? You will not resist. When it comes time to become [slashdot.org] a cyborg [wikipedia.org] you won't resist; you'll beg to join us. [wikipedia.org]
Well, as a moth... (Score:4, Funny)

by AA Wulf ( 1657459 ) writes: on Friday November 06, 2009 @07:54AM (#30004474)

I for one welcome our new RFID-implanting human overlords...

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- Re: (Score:2)
  
  by mcgrew ( 92797 ) * writes:
  
  I, for one, welcome our new mothters. [angryflower.com]
- Re: (Score:2)
  
  by Hurricane78 ( 562437 ) writes:
  
  As a human, you will soon follow. ^^
- Re: (Score:2)
  
  by dontmakemethink ( 1186169 ) writes:
  
  Could you imagine a botnet of these things? Yeesh!
V-Chip (Score:3, Funny)

by IndustrialComplex ( 975015 ) writes: on Friday November 06, 2009 @08:20AM (#30004566)

Cartman is going to be Pis*Z*Z*Z**ZZZZZZZZap. OUCH DAMN*Z*Z*Z*ZZZZAP. FuZ**Z*Z*Z*Z*Z*Z. OW!

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Will o' the NeuralWISP, MEMS, & Spice (Score:2, Interesting)

by Globally Mobile ( 1635415 ) writes:

Just imagined a great cloud of moths controlled by these implants, with an MEMS chip for distributed wireless, feeding our ever growing hunger for broadband communications.

'The Spice Must Flow' [youtube.com]
- Re: (Score:1)
  
  by Globally Mobile ( 1635415 ) writes:
  
  Whoops, thought these were more then just monitors, and actual controllers... My bad!
  - Re: (Score:2)
    
    by dissy ( 172727 ) writes:
    
    Whoops, thought these were more then just monitors, and actual controllers... My bad!
    It's only a matter of time really.
    I just hope they don't remotely control spiders in the future... I hate those things :P
    - Re: (Score:1)
      
      by Globally Mobile ( 1635415 ) writes:
      
      goodness, seriously man.... Had one crawling on my desk/aka my bed/ala Proust... It was the smallest, most nimble little thing, reminds me of the jitterbug bots they made/make @MIT
      
      ---- Gibble, Gobble, we ACCEPT YOU ... ----
    - Re: (Score:1)
      
      by ArbitraryDescriptor ( 1257752 ) writes:
      
      I just hope they don't remotely control spiders in the future... I hate those things :P
      Seriously? Because a remote controlled jumping-spider (with cameras) would be the coolest RC toy ever. Have you ever seen how fast those things are? They don't even move, they just shift through time over small distances.
Almost there (Score:2)

by Arancaytar ( 966377 ) writes:

Now implant a laser diode into its head.
- Re: (Score:1)
  
  by smitty777 ( 1612557 ) writes:
  
  "...because I feel every creature is entitled to a warm meal"
Two centimeters is not small (Score:2)

by noidentity ( 188756 ) writes:

The NeuralWISP chip is a collection of low-power components such as a specialized signal amplifier, on a circuit board just over two centimeters long.

So it's about the size of a US dime. Seems pretty damn bulky to me. RFID devices can be much smaller [wikipedia.org], for things like gluing to ants. The record is listed at 0.05mm x 0.05mm.
- Re: (Score:2)
  
  by drinkypoo ( 153816 ) writes:
  
  Yep, this is precisely what I was thinking. Actually, they lost me at "circuit board". Who hasn't seen simple electronics built without one that are way smaller as a result? It's a fucking moth, there's no enclosure into which you would install a PCB.
I did this for my senior EE project! (Score:2)

by carn1fex ( 613593 ) writes:

Waaay back in 2002 we built a similar device for lab rats for my senior EE project. A little helmet stuck electrodes into the rats brain and fed the signals to a little 2cm x 1cm backpack that had a little amp, mux, a2d and fm transmitter. Used to study what areas of the rats brain were responsible for drug addiction. They actually juiced the rats on cocaine. Hence ours was WAY COOLER and we were drunk half the time. :P
This key to this WHOLE thing is this one statement (Score:2)

by gabrieltss ( 64078 ) writes:

"The ultimate goal is to create more compact, wirelessly-powered brain and nervous system implants for people."
Got it - they want to put these in YOU! So they can track everything you think, do and say. Oh wait wasn't that said in an old song "In The Year 2525"......
Welcome SLAVE!
This will help retailers (Score:1)

by formfeed ( 703859 ) writes:

Moths with RFID chips implanted will not only make it easier for large retailers to keep track of their inventory, it will also help them to cut down on the rising number of moth pick pocketing (moth pocketing).
Heck, they might even be able to track consumer behavior: What else are moth-buying consumers interested in?
Usually moths are located in the rice and grain isle, but this new research might enable retailers to move them over to another part of the store, to sell other products as well. For example,
hmmm... (Score:1)

by CremIon ( 119396 ) writes:

...something about this bugs me...

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Researchers Implant Neural-Monitoring RFID Into a Moth 39

Researchers Implant Neural-Monitoring RFID Into a Moth More Login

Researchers Implant Neural-Monitoring RFID Into a Moth

Talk about feeding the conspiracy theorists (Score:4, Funny)

Re: (Score:2)

Re: (Score:1)

control (Score:1)

Re: (Score:1)

Re: (Score:2)

Debugging (Score:4, Funny)

We will add your biological and technological.... (Score:2, Funny)

Re: (Score:2)

Re:We will add your biological and technological.. (Score:3, Funny)

Re: (Score:2)

Well, as a moth... (Score:4, Funny)

Re: (Score:2)

Re: (Score:2)

Re: (Score:2)

V-Chip (Score:3, Funny)

Will o' the NeuralWISP, MEMS, & Spice (Score:2, Interesting)

Re: (Score:1)

Re: (Score:2)

Re: (Score:1)

Re: (Score:1)

Almost there (Score:2)

Re: (Score:1)

Two centimeters is not small (Score:2)

Re: (Score:2)

I did this for my senior EE project! (Score:2)

This key to this WHOLE thing is this one statement (Score:2)

This will help retailers (Score:1)

hmmm... (Score:1)

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