I am all for technology, please don’t get me wrong. I couldn’t live without my mobile phone or my Internet connection. I love the fact that I can watch DVD’s in bed on my laptop and my favourite is being able to skype my friends in all corners of the globe. But I did come across somehting the other day that I initially thought was totally cool and exciting and then got increasngly freaked out by. Just because of the potential danger it poses.
Now, before I begin, by way of a disclaimer I just have to put out there that I am no scientist. In fact, I am so bad at things sciencey that my physics teacher at school told me I was the stupidest girl he had ever taught. There have been many moments subsequent to that one when I have wished my physics teacher could ‘see me now’ but that’s another day’s story.
The reason I put the above disclaimer out there is because I do not fully understand what I came across and how it works and what these wizz kids are actually doing but I really do want to comment on ‘it’ anyway.
‘It’ is the fact that technology is now being used by the military to create ‘cybugs’ as spies. I have read before that scientists are now so clever that they are able to use insects like remote-controlled helicopters. But, as far as I understand it, they plant some nano device into or on the unsuspecting beetle, which over-rides it’s own nano brain functions enabling the scientist to then make it fly up and down at his or her will. Making tiny devices to do all sorts of weird things in also nothing new. Tiny cameras have been planted on ‘bad guys’ in movies since the 1970’s but what is extraordinary is the use of insects as small as bees who can be remotely controlled to go into places that no human could ever reach, with a camera attached.
So the way I see it is now whoever wants to can go and find out what their enemies are up to under the pretence of an innocent bee lingering too long around your Coke over lunch. This must inevitably lead to all kinds of havoc, surely?
Its just interesting to consider in our cleverness what we might cause.
I was interviewed on 702 this week around future jobs today’s children might have? Reading your post reminded me of this job description:
“New science’ ethicist: With the rise of cloning and other ethically-dubious practices, ethicists will be needed to ford the river of progress.”
I do think that once we are able to put nano bugs into brains to control creatures, we’re getting into spaces we are going to want to think carefully about.
Would agree with Barrie here!
A freaky thought though. Time to carry a can of Doom on me,