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| Science & Technology |
| New Scientist: Stealth sharks to patrol the high seas |
| 2006-03-01 |
| [..] More controversially, the Pentagon hopes to exploit sharks' natural ability to glide quietly through the water, sense delicate electrical gradients and follow chemical trails. By remotely guiding the sharks' movements, they hope to transform the animals into stealth spies, perhaps capable of following vessels without being spotted. The project, funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), based in Arlington, Virginia, was presented at the Ocean Sciences Meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii, last week. Neural implants consist of a series of electrodes that are embedded into the animal's brain, which can then be used to stimulate various functional areas. Biologist Jelle Atema of Boston University and his students are using them to "steer" spiny dogfish in a tank via a phantom odour. As the dogfish swims about, the researchers beam a radio signal from a laptop to an antenna attached to the fish at one end and sticking up out of the water at the other. The electrodes then stimulate either the right or left of the olfactory centre, the area of the brain dedicated to smell. The fish flicks round to the corresponding side in response to the signal, as if it has caught a whiff of an interesting smell: the stronger the signal, the more sharply it turns. [..] Read the whole article! |
| Posted by:3dc |
| #8 Some cops are really sharks... |
| Posted by: 3dc 2006-03-01 23:53 |
| #7 |
| Posted by: .com 2006-03-01 22:34 |
| #6 Screw that. Large-mouth tuna. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2006-03-01 22:31 |
| #5 or at least angry sea bass? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-03-01 22:28 |
| #4 #3 - No, not quite... "Sharks guided by frickin'laser beams" |
| Posted by: Spoter Unatle4689 2006-03-01 22:18 |
| #3 (OK, this thread seems to be commentable...) A one, a two, a three... "Sharks with frickin laser beams!" |
| Posted by: Phil 2006-03-01 22:14 |
| #2 PETA seethes, drops cloths, seethes some more |
| Posted by: Captain America 2006-03-01 21:43 |
| #1 We used stinky bait to lure and catch big cats on the Wabash. It will work here too I tell you, we can train them, it will work, it will work!!!! DARPA sharks are my idea, my fish, my agency. Mine! Mine! Mine! |
| Posted by: Dr.J.Poindexter 2006-03-01 20:54 |