From behind the headboard slipped a tiny hunter-seeker no more than five centimeters long. Paul recognized it at once -- a common assassination weapon that every child of royal blood learned about at an early age. It was a ravening sliver of metal guided by some near-by hand and eye. It could burrow into moving flesh and chew its way up nerve channels to the nearest vital organ.--Frank Herbert, Dune
The seeker lifted, swung sideways across the room and back.
A Defense Department agency is funding development of a new weapon, a "nano aerial vehicle (NAV) called the "Nano Scout," an acronym for Nano Sensor Covert Observer in Urban Terrain. The Scout will be a tiny flying instrument, the size of a hummingbird, that actually can fly and maneuver in the same manner as a hummingbird. The Scout can be directed to fly into buildings, explore the interior, and report back on enemy activities.
The device will be about 3 inches (7.5 cm) long, and weigh about the same as a couple of nickel coins. It will have a maximum forward speed of about 20 mph. Researchers are studying the nervous systems of insects to develop ways to give the devices the necessary intelligence to function with the least weight.
According to the report, Scouts will be used for observational purposes, and will be ready for the battlefield in 10-15 years. On-line commentators suggest other uses:
How about having a little hypodermic in it's [sic] nose instead, loaded with a powerful poison like potassium cyanide? That way the entire NAV becomes the bullet. You just ram it into the enemy kamikaze style and the payload is injected.
Our very own "hunter-seekers." Assassination by remote control, without the messiness of flying drone bombers!
Life imitates art. And life just gets more and more interesting.
-------------------Ted Smith, Tech News Daily, re-pub. MSNBC (7-2-10)
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