Flight of pigeons remote-controlled by Chinese Scientists using microelectrodes
Chinese scientists have reportedly claimed success in an experiment to remotely control the flight path of a pigeon using electronic technology. These scientists from Robot Engineering Technology Research Center at Shandong University of Science and Technology have succeeded in implanting electrodes in the brain of a pigeon and can thus control the bird’s flight using a remote controlled device.
The implants in the pigeon’s brain stimulated different areas of the pigeon’s brain according to signals sent by the scientists via a computer. These implants thus forced the bird to comply with their commands making it fly right or left or up or down.
This happens to be the first successful experiment on a pigeon to be conducted ever in the world. The chief scientist of the experiment was Su Xuecheng. The electronic signals resemble the signals generated by the brain which control body movement.
Su together with his colleagues are improving the device used in the experiment and they hope that the technology can be put into practical use in the future. The report issued by the scientists did not specify what practical uses the scientists saw for the remote-controlled pigeon.
Su had conducted a similar experiment on mice in 2005 and it too turned out to be successful.
RSS |
Permanent Link
|
Del.icio.us
|
Cosmos
|
Digg
|
|
March 1st, 2007 at 9:01 am
Like most scientists, these guys dont seem to have any morals about slaughtering or operating on defenceless creatures - I just wish some aliens would land on this Earth (preferably in their back yard) and start inserting electrical probes into their brains in the name of a material, mechanistic science. We would then have walking, talking, robot scientists - now that would be REALLY interesting!
March 3rd, 2007 at 3:29 am
jealousy about eastern nations spoke so loudly….i didn’t know jonathon
March 13th, 2007 at 4:48 pm
I think Johnathan would change his mind in a hurry if he lost a limb and the knowledge of how to manipulate limbs with electrodes were used to make him able to control an artificial hand, arm, or leg.
August 28th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
Animal Cruelty… bottom line
I think Jonathan is more disturbed about the use of living creatures as science experiments. Perhaps when they start using humans people will give a crap.
May 20th, 2008 at 11:24 am
I’m all for advances in technology, but using animals is really bad. I don’t think it was a plausible experiment considering there is so need for complete controll over the minds of animals of birds, maybe rats to get into a hostage situation with out being obvious…but further advances in technology will do away with that.