Cyborg Moths? You Bet.

I just wanted to quickly flag a really cool (albeit poorly written) article from the Register on the new cyborg moths being developed by DARPA.

"This is going to happen," said Mr [Rod] Brooks. "It's not science like developing the nuclear bomb, which costs billions of dollars. It can be done relatively cheaply."

"A bunch of experiments have been done over the past couple of years where simple animals, such as rats and cockroaches, have been operated on and driven by joysticks, but this is the first time where the chip has been injected in the pupa stage and 'grown' inside it.

"Once the moth hatches, machine learning is used to control it."

Soft, chewy insect on the outside? Delightfully crunchy robot on the inside? Sounds delicious! Of course, the intelligence-gathering ramifications of this technology can't be overestimated. It's about time we put our six-legged friends to good use.

By the way--DARPA must be the absolute coolest place to work. Ever.

Standing Up for Morality? Prepare to be Attacked

It's impossible to espouse any moral views anymore without being slammed for doing so. The latest victim of moral intolerance: Marine Gen. Peter Pace. Says the news article,

...Marine Gen. Peter Pace had likened homosexuality to adultery and said the military should not condone it by allowing gays to serve openly in the military.

"I believe homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts," Pace said in the interview. "I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is OK to be immoral in any way."

The response was quick and harsh:

"General Pace's comments are outrageous, insensitive and disrespectful to the 65,000 lesbian and gay troops now serving in our armed forces," the advocacy group Servicemembers Legal Defense Network said in a statement on its Web site.

I guess it's okay to have certain moral standards, as long as you don't voice your opinion. My only criticism is that he left out premarital sex and pornography – both of which can also lead to broken families and lost souls.

By the way – with a don't-ask-don't-tell policy, how do they figure that there are 65,000 homosexuals in the military? Sounds like fuzzy math...