Today I Saw the DragonflEye

Project DragonflEye: this to-scale model shows 
the insect-controlling backpack with integrated 
energy, guidance, and navigation systems

 

I.

According to a recent report in The Observer (16 August 2020), thanks to climate change dragonflies are thriving in the UK as more and more of them migrate northwards. 

In the last twenty years, at least half-a-dozen previously foreign species of dragon (and the smaller-bodied damsel) fly have set up home here, bringing the total number of UK species to nearly fifty.

And more are expected to follow ...

That, I think, is a good thing: for I like these jewel-like insects, with their gossamer wings and brilliantly coloured bodies, that have been zipping around for at least 300 million years.

And this despite the fact that they have a slightly sinister reputation within the European imagination, unlike in Japan, by contrast, where they are an inspiration to poets and rightly recognised as a symbol of happiness; not that this stops the Japanese from grinding them up for use in so-called traditional medicine.   

That, of course, is an absurd way to die for such a beautiful creature. But it's worth noting that - even for an insect - there are fates worse than death by ancient quackery ...  

II.

Draper Laboratory is an independent, non-profit research and development unit based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which looks for new ways to deploy advanced technology in the areas of national security, space exploration, and health care.

Draper is also collaborating with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to create cybernetic insects using genetic engineering and optoelectronics. Indeed, a dragonfly has already been genetically modified with light-sensitive steering neurons in its nerve cord. Miniature sensors, a computer chip, and a solar panel have also been fitted in a backpack attached to the creature's thorax, just in front of its wings.

Pulses of light are sent along flexible optrodes from the backpack to the nerve cord in order to relay commands to the insect. According to the scientists working on the project, the result is a micro-aerial vehicle that's superior to anything purely mechanical; who needs robotic insects when you can turn real dragonflies into cyborg drones?    

The hope is - once they really get the hang of optogenetic stimulation (which is clearly an advance upon old-fashioned electrodes directly stimulating muscles) - they'll be able to have dragonflies carry payloads or conduct surveillance. And if the same technology can be used with bees, perhaps it will help them become more efficient pollinators ...

For more details on the DragonflEye project visit the Draper website: click here.