Like something out of a science fiction movie, according to an article in the Washington Post, there have been some sightings of unusual robot-looking dragonflies around various political rallies in Washington and New York. Governments (in general, I’m not trying to point any fingers) seriously need to do a better job at gaining the trust of their citizens. So the dreaded spy bugs of the future are upon us… the implications of such a technology are paramount. There are huge military implications (although, why can’t we all just live in peace – that’s another post for another day), but more importantly privacy implications. If you think about it, bugs are a given in everyday life – depending on where you live. They’re in your backyard during a barbeque, birthday party, in your house if you leave your door open for too long – this technology has the potential to infiltrate our daily lives. But it begs the question, what has the government done to be associated almost instantaneously with ‘suspicious looking dragonflies around political rally’ to ‘secret government spy technology’.This is not some technology dreamt up by a Hollywood movie maker – the CIA had developed a form of robobug as early as 30 years ago, and with recent advancements in technology who knows at what stage they’re at now. Don’t forget that the internet was originally developed for military use and then was disseminated for widespread public use when there was promise of commercial viability. Now I’m not trying to liken the internet with insect spies. But at the time, the idea was equally fantastic.

Apparently imitating the wing movements of bugs are much harder than it looks and although no American federal agency has confessed to using these robobugs, a number of them along with some private organizations have admitted to trying to develop them. The Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) sanctioned a project to develop robobugs weighing less than 10g (0.3oz) each, and with a 7.5cm (3in) wingspan, they have also tried to implant live insects with chips, so that they can be controlled remotely. I can see the slogan now… half machine – half arthropod.

Obviously these sightings are being attributed back to overly paranoid political activists looking at a group of some of the more impressive dragonfly species. But it says something when they relate the image of unusual looking insects to their government spying on them at a peace rally.