Cyborg Technology: Military Use of Animal Cyborgs
Introduction
People most commonly associate cyborgs with fictional movies. Think about the terminator from Terminator or Darth Vader General Grevious from Star Wars. So, what exactly is a cyborg? By definition, a cyborg is something with both biological and artificial parts. The artificial parts enhance some biological function that otherwise would be at the same or at a sub-par level to normal.
Claim
Many cyborg films include plenty of battles and one main human cyborg that joins the war to ultimately turn the tables. Although the United States Department of Defense is not investing in such technology, they are researching technology to develop animal cyborgs.
Evidence
The Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) has been working on the creation of cyborgs with the Department of Defense. They’ve researched technology such as the creation of cyborg sharks, insects, and dolphins. Though not always successful, they’ve invested millions of dollars in trying to utilize animals as part of the military for intelligence.
Many animals have different skills or heightened senses compared to humans; this is why the military has decided to develop technology to use animals as tools. The United States has been successful in developing cyborg dolphins and sharks. These animals, when implanted with sensor units and other devices, can be controlled by scientists. However, the military has ultimately chosen to use sharks, the less friendly of the two, to do what humans cannot, including sensing electromagnetic fields.
Not all cyborg development research has gone smoothly. After years of trying to find a way to make bees find land mines on command, they gave up; they did not figure out how to stop bees from performing instinctive behavior, such as mating and feeding. However, the researchers did find that if they implanted chips to manipulate insect behavior at their larvae stage, it will stay attached when they become full-fledged insects.
Conclusion
Could we see cyborg animals in motion in our front lines at war in the future, just like in movies? It’s very likely that in the near future, we could deploy these animals for either intelligence or in place of human soldiers. With the exponential growth of technology, we should be prepared to see our fictional Hollywood concepts become reality.
Sources
I have 3 school brochures on hand.
- Informatics.
University ba ‘toh? Di ata. Pero okay na yun. LOL.Pinag-iisipan ko kung mag-vocational muna ako bago ako kumuha ng four year course. In a way, pwede pang makapag-ipon yung parents ko para kapag 4-year course na, sa private school ako makakapag-aral. Atska, malaking tulong din kung mag-vocational ako dito kasi malapit na, mura pa. Pero naisip ko, hindi ko naman linya ang I.T. I mean, hindi ko naman talaga trip yung course na yu’n. Hindi naman sa hindi siya maganda, pero ayoko naman kumuha ng course na hindi ko gusto. Pinag-iisipan ko pa din naman ‘toh. - Mapua. Wala lang. Trip ko lang kumuha ng brochure nito kasi dito nag-aaral si dylan. HAHAHAHA. Landi. Anywaaaaaaaaay..
- Jose Rizal University. Nagustuhan ko ‘toh. Well, isa na sigurong dahilan ay magaling magsalita yung representative ng JRU na nagpunta saamin. Ayoko namang i-endorse. BASTA. HAHAHA. Gusto ko kasing magTourism. Bukod sa hindi naman toh masyadong malayo sa bahay namin, hindi din masyadong malapit. Magulo ata? basta yun na yun. Ayoko kasi ng sobrang layo, at sobrang lapit. Tapos, kilala din naman yung school na ‘toh. Nakita ko na din ang school. Gustong-gusto ko naman yung facilities nila. :D Sana madaming guwapo. HAHAHAHA. Jk. On the other hand, malaki ang possibility na dito ako mag-aral kasi napapayag ko na si mommy. Kuha na lang siguro ako ng scholarship examination.
Source Control Done Right - The Daily WTF
thedailywtf.comYour introduction to source control probably was a lot like mine: “here’s how you open SourceSafe, here’s your login, and here’s how you get your files… now get to work.” For the most part, that works just fine.
We’re already familiar with the nature of files and directories, so introducing the concepts of checking-in and checking-out aren’t a huge leap. Repositories, merging, and committing become second-nature just as easily.
But there’s a whole lot more to source control than just that …
A good blog article about version and source control and revisions.
Science careers: Applying bioinformatics to precision medicine
sciencecareers.sciencemag.org“Trained as an organic chemist, molecular biologist, and bioinformaticist, [Fatima] Al-Shahrour sees many exciting opportunities for early-career scientists who are willing to work at the crossroads where biomedical research, bioinformatics and computational biology, and clinical research meet. “Medicine is going into that direction, so every hospital, every clinician, every laboratory in the future is going to need people who can interpret those results,” she says.
