Israel adding to global animalbot army with "bionic hornets"

Israel thinks that the best way to think big is to think small. Reuters reports that the country will be researching the use of nanotechnology to fight militants within its borders over the next few years. Among the proposed projects are a set of "super gloves" that would give the wearer the power of a "bionic man," as well as tiny sensors to find suicide bombers. However, our favorite is a "bionic hornet" -- no bigger than a real hornet -- which would have the ability to "chase, photograph and kill its targets." While the bionic hornet hasn't actually been built yet, Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres said that prototypes for the new weapons could be expected by 2010. Americans, don't worry, we've already got our own insect cyborgs, attack dolphins, spy turtles and remote-controlled sharks underway, which should be ready within three years to counter any sissy hornets, bionic or otherwise.

[The One Above All @ Nov 17th 2006 6:04PM]

Can we say "Insections attack"!!!! Insecticons, Insecticons...thats just...whoa! What's next Dinobots?

[Christian @ Nov 17th 2006 8:12PM]

I think Insecticons sounds cooler!

[Evil Closet Monkey @ Nov 17th 2006 6:15PM]

I for one welcome our new robotic insect overlords.

[David @ Nov 17th 2006 6:42PM]

eek, the robots are going to get us! We need HUAR now more than ever!!! www.HumansUnitedAgainstRobots.com

[Tariq Abusheikh @ Nov 17th 2006 7:30PM]

Thats great...use robot insects and "bionic gloves" against people with rocks! Thats some excellent financial allocation by the government :P

Then again, Israel has gotten over $84,854,827,200 from America alone (that figure was from 1949 to November 1, 1997).

[Joey @ Nov 17th 2006 8:00PM]

Rocks? Try explosives melded with nails...They are the most hated people in the world. In our country, we are supposed to love and accept all cultures, religions, sexual preferences, etc, etc, etc, etc.

Can you blame a nation of people for trying to defend themselves since they are so hated because of who they are?

Get a clue

[whiskey @ Nov 17th 2006 8:03PM]

You seem to be forgetting about the space-monkey armada and those programable cockroaches.

[dave @ Nov 17th 2006 8:10PM]

More weapons? Great. Nice scary picture too. Really makes me happy to remember that this blog isn't just about PS3

[Botman @ Nov 17th 2006 10:00PM]

Just shoot mini nanotech gps transmitter w mic into person and go get them later at their hideout w their friends.Do same to terrorists or bad people in iraq.After get info needed,press button and nano gps release chemical into blood to make person sleep and go pick up idiot to put in jail or question.A dead martr is not worth much,keep them talking.Bionic hornet is just chatter for now,easier to tag and track for now.Play with more sophisticated nano later if not get sick from nanoparticles in air.

[bdiggity @ Nov 17th 2006 11:01PM]

Wow joey, nothing like a little counter hatred hm? btw. i don't think Israel accepted the movie of two male lovers in the Israeli army (yossi and jagger) so well, or really the existence of Palestinians.
dont know anything about a guy and just ready to rip into him instead of focusing on the thing of beauty created by military need. YAY for the military...

this really explains how some cultures (maybe human beings in general) interact with invention and nature. we develop new ideas of how to kill others. Really enforces what silenus told midas: the best thing for humans is to have never been born.

[Balagan @ Nov 17th 2006 11:32PM]

I think Joey is right. This was about technology and not political views and the poster to which Joey responded did not have to make that comment as it is not relevant to the story! I can say this and I will not get into a cat fight here. I am an American...and I served in the Israeli Military and I can tell you they do not just use rocks....ie...Kids throw rocks while sniper fires from behind them. Oh yeah...don't forget Israel is required to use most of that money for the purchasing of Goods from the US. Basically Tariq Abusheikh has a chip on his shoulder and needs help. Stick to tech here and if you need to voice your opinion about politics or religion...take it somewhere else!

[jumpymathguy @ Nov 18th 2006 3:18AM]

Balagan, you are partly wrong. Israel is the only US aid recipient not required to spend its aid on American military products. Furthermore, usually countries get their payments in installments throughout the year, but our Israeli friends get theirs upfront and earn interest on it. This is partly due to the fact that any opposition to a bill supporting Israel is deemed antisemitic and real US interests are often overridden.

Other than that, the hornet seems interesting. I wonder how its powered (solar?), its killing mechanism (poison?), and its method of data transfer. Also, why would you need a bionic arm in combat?

[Ndric @ Nov 18th 2006 4:43AM]

Hahaha, you mean lke how Link uses bees?

Do they have to keep them in jars too :P

[g3n3tix @ Nov 18th 2006 5:33AM]

Reminds me of the "Venus the flytrap" Atari ST game...

[jackbrown @ Nov 18th 2006 6:11AM]

This story has been giving me the creeps for days now (it was in YNET news earlier). The Israeli army is the most bloodthirsty and inhumane military organization in the 'developed' world. The idea that they are devloping miniature flying attack robots to kill Palestinian 'militants' even more efficiently (like the score of women and children in one attack last week, or the half a dozen women they shot at point blank range the week before) is, frankly, terrifying. This is the kind of military technology that, if it ever gets developed, we are going to really wish we'd never invented in the first place. Kind of like the atom bomb.

I take comfort from the possibility that this is just a little 'false flag' game the Israelis are playing. Like when they spread the idea a few years ago that they were developing a germ-warfare weapon that would only kill 'Arabs' (reported in the Times of London and elsewhere); a microbial weapon somehow attuned to kill Arabs would, of course, kill Sephardi jews as well, if it were possible to make with today's technology, which it isn't, yet.

And Joey...just 'cause someone has a name that doesn't sound like yours doesn't give you license for thinly disguised racist judgements. How are you going to respond to my take on this, since my name is, in fact, Jack?

[Ali bin Ahmed bin Saleh Al-Fulani @ Nov 18th 2006 8:43AM]

Well, I'm Arab and I really don't see ANY of my breathen standing up for peace in any of the mosques I've been in. It's mostly hate and racism at the Jew and Western society. Matter of fact, the Israelis Do recognize the rights of Arab nations to exist. The same can never be said for the "Arabs" who are fond of chanting "Death to Israel!" and blowing people up.

Cheers!


BTW, love the Hornets!

[Aldryk @ Nov 19th 2006 3:13PM]

Hi Ali,

As an israeli, I feel the same way..
Sadly, both Jews and Arabs here in Israel have fanatics who only hate and hate and do nothing to solve the problem.
And sadly more, both sides have growing numbers of people learning from others how not to listen and how to hate..
I wouldn't go down on Joey so hard. I know "where he's coming from" in his words. and i can imagin how Tariq must feel also...

Bionic Hornets are just another weapon to replace guns/rockets/missiles/rocks etc... (btw, Taric, those rock throwers are not throwing rocks for a while now... try to get updated.. :))

I would have used bionic insects for better purposes.. like large qty vaccination or maybe to protect crops against other "real" insects?

Cheers :)

[magnalator @ Nov 18th 2006 9:18AM]

I can just imagine Ehud Olmert dressed as Dr. Evil reciting the infamous line:
"All I wanted was frickin' sharks with frickin' laser beams. It was a simple request, really."

[Paul @ Nov 18th 2006 10:28AM]

WHy does everyone always pick on Israelis? How come no one every censures opression in other parts of the world? Would a story like this that came out of Iran or Pakistan or any other country prompt comments like the ones here? How come no one cares about what's going on in Darfur, half of the African continent, Lebanon, North Korea and Iran (can you imagine these countries with nuclear weapons), plus much more. So you've got one tiny little country that has been continuously under attack for over 50 years, that happens to develop some interesting new technology that would be used to defend itself (Jack - you know what gives me the creeps? Suicide bombers who blow up innocent civilians including schoolkids on busses, cafes, shopping centers and places of worship) and all some people can think of is to bash Israel? Some people have no clue and their obsession with bashing any story about anything that comes out of Israel is simply a sign of their racist, low intelligence brain at work.

[Peter @ Nov 18th 2006 11:38AM]

Actually, everyone should applaud this. If it works, it means less collateral damage. You don't have to send a missile and kill the innocents the terrorist is hiding behind. You just send a hornet and get the terrorist.

[mahmud kuntar @ Nov 18th 2006 1:48PM]

I think its great that israel is developing a new weapon that will kill more terrorists and less civilians. I am an israeli arab who has served in the IDF, and all though we always hear on the news how bad the army is, in reality, its probably the most humane army possible. the only time innocent civilians are killed in when a mistake is made. with this new weapon, less mistakes will be made and it will be easier to kill terrorists...plus this technology is amazing and impressive

[Aldryk @ Nov 19th 2006 3:18PM]

"the only time innocent civilians are killed in when a mistake is made"
I do now agree to this statement, as the Palestinians are shooting rockets into Sderot in order to hurt civilians, in order to force the government to act accordingly, as Israels policy is to hurt Hamas operatives, during such actions, civilians get killed.
Israel's mistakes cause innocent people to get killed. Palestinians rockets are aimed for this purpose. (by Palestinians, i mean the hamas extremists of course, not the common men..)

[pushlatency @ Nov 18th 2006 4:45PM]

Right, just as some commenters have been saying, this is a "good" warfare technology as conceivably it strikes the bad people and has no effect on civilians.

However, the reason this exists, or rather is being developed is because the IDF and Israeli military doctrine is scrutinized on an international level. If the rest of us didn't "pick on" Israel as a result of its military blunders and mistakes where women and children die, there would be little incentive to develop collateral damage reducing technology like these robotic hornets.

I'd just like to add that I agree Israel is being "picked on", and the reasons are far more complex and far more grey then labeling it as anti-semitism. But the truth is, we can never have too much scrutiny over the death of innocents, no matter what side, or what conflict.

[Denis Vitchevsky @ Nov 20th 2006 1:41AM]

Well, first of all, it's not military development per-se. Peres is a HUGE nanotecnology geek, he's been raving about it for years without, I guess, understanding what it actually is. So now some scientists get funding for research, which obviously has military applications but is not really an army project.

And as for the whole political debate, is it really the place for it? Sure, people can fill pages upon pages debating whether we're the most bloodthirsty nation in the world, but it's Engadget and not a political blog, so maybe you guys (and gals?) should spice the politics with gadgetry talk. Like, for example "Israelis are evil. I bet their Tavor rifle looks like something from starcraft because they want to blame Blizzard on the war with the Palestinians" or "Israel is a peaceful nation. Even the Tavor rifle looks like something from starcraft because they'd rather play computer games than fight".
Or, you know, have political discussions elsewhere. That would be better, methinks.

Ah, and if the question of my neutrality arises, I'm not neutral. Far from that, am a staff sergeant in the IDF (Israeli Defence Force)/ZOA (Zionist Occupation Army), depends on your political views.

[gal d. @ Nov 28th 2006 6:04PM]

From micro to nano... this new technology will help us fight terrorism but we shall use it carefully to make sure it won't get in the wrong hands.