It’s tempting to call them lords of the flies. For the first time, researchers have controlled the movements of free-flying insects from afar, as if they were tiny remote-controlled aircraft.

By connecting electrodes and radio antennas to the nervous systems of beetles, the researchers were able to make them take off, dive and turn on command. The cyborg insects were created at the University of California, Berkeley, by engineers led by Hirotaka Sato and Michel Maharbiz as part of a programme funded by the Pentagon’s Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has always been at the forefront of technological advancements. Its goal: to invest in national security technologies that are likely to lead to breakthroughs. And while not every project sees the light of day, there have been many that have redefined the world we live in.

 The West Linn Community for Police Reform first formed in February 2020 in response to "racism, illegal surveillance and false arrest" of Michael Fesser. They organized a march in West Linn Sunday demanding accountability.