In a project reminiscent of the Chinese microchip controlled pigeon, DARPA has a program called Hybrid Insect Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (HI-MEMS). The HI-MEMS project is designed to implant a MEMS device inside a moth pupae. The MEMS device would be used to control the locomotion of the insect once it reaches adulthood. This information comes to us from the UK's Register. BoingBoing also posted a similar article.

The technology will probably not be long in coming. According to the University of Washington website, they have already implanted MEMS in moths. They used a species of moth called Tritonia diomedea, that grows up to 20cm in length. The experiments listed on the website were undertaken prior to 2004. The purpose of the project was to:

DARPA will have a new partner in creating creating creepy and amazing new technologies. The new Agency is called IARPA (Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Agency). IARPA will work with the 16 different US intelligence & spy agencies to develop new technologies. DARPA was previously responsible for the creation and ideasmithing of the TIA project (total information awareness), the terrorism futures market (never operational), among other intelligence based ideas. I wonder if the creation of IARPA and DARPA will get along peacefully, with DARPA happily letting go of their TIA type projects?

SpaceX will be allowed to operate at Cape Canaveral. This will move the launch of SpaceX's Falcon rockets from the Marshall Islands to Florida. SpaceX has been largely funded by DARPA to date. Experts claim that SpaceX will now be in direct competition with Orbital Science, who run the Minotaur rocket. The US Air Force green lighted the 5 year license agreement. It pays to do good work with DARPA, I suppose.

The article does not state if the move to cape Canaveral affected this competition. The article also does not mention how Cape Canaveral will affect the costs of running the Falcon rockets.

This BoingBoing blurb talks about a project from the Department of Defense looking at a system for 'Augmented Cognition'. The Boing Boing folks want more information about how it would work - and mostly they are just talking about the poor content of the video, which is available here. Surprise! It's a DARPA project.

I am suddenly reminded of one of the first DARPA projects that I ever heard about. It was to develop a helmet for the military that would keep the wearer awake and alert without the need for drugs. Also the helmet would stimulate the aggression centers of the wearer's brain. Looking at the article now, it appears as though I read a few things into the article (there must have been another article somewhere). MUSC says that the idea is to 'improve soldier performance'. Remember, this project is the first time that I had ever heard of DARPA. I think that the helmet project automatically gave them creepy status in my mind. The project was given to the Military College of South Carolina, MUSC. The press release I read is available here at MUSC's site and is dated from May, 2002.

The Falcon 1 rocket, from SpaceX was successfully launched from Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific. However, the craft was not able to reach it's intended orbit before telemetry was lost and the nose cone was jettisoned. This is the second test launch for the DARPA financed Falcon 1, and the second time the craft has failed to meet expectations. Despite this, Elon Musk - co-founder of PayPal and CEO of SpaceX, believes that the launch was a success. At least all of the hardware wasn't lost in a launch pad fireball, I suppose.

The US Air force launched a clutch of satellites from Cape Canaveral Thursday night. The satellites are part of a DARPA funded project called Orbital Express. The clutch consists of five NextSat satellites, which have reportedly been launched to study atmospheric conditions and collect data. The sixth satellite of the clutch is the ASTRO, a repair satellite. The ASTRO satellite is testing service and refueling techniques. The ASTRO can attach to working satellites to replace defective parts or provide additional prope

The Land Warrior system post got me interested in the concept of exoskeletons. Primarily I was wondering about how nanomachines are being used in the creation of human performance augmentation systems. I realize that nanomachines for human performance augmentation are not the same as exoskeletons, but they share the same goals. The basic aim of human performance augmentation and exoskeletons is to improve the strength, agility, perception, and speed of a person. Most of the research currently being done on exoskeleton type systems has been sparked by a grant from DARPA for the Land Warrior System (aka Future Warrior System). As such most of the work has military implications. Some people may be familiar with the image of the projected Future Warrior System future of a US soldier pictured to the left. I will auspiciously avoid communication, perception, gps location, and weapons systems in this article. Even avoiding some key topics, this is a huge topic covering many aspects of biology, kineseology, materials science, computing, robotics, and more. I will try to be brief.

SpaceX will try to re-test their Falcon 1 rocket. They will be launching their rocket from the scenic Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. The test launch is being paid for by DARPA.