Back in the late '90s, scientists at Tokyo University perfected a remote-control device that allowed them to manipulate cockroaches. The device, which was surgically implanted on the insect's back, sent impulses through electrodes that had replaced the host's antennae. It allowed researchers to direct the roach along a specific path, forward or backward, left or right. The tiny backpack also could be fitted with a micro-camera, to create a highly mobile probe that could go where people can't--into the rubble to search for earthquake victims, for example; or under a door to spy on a competitor's marketing meeting.
Those who read about this technological "advance" at the time probably wondered how long it would take before something similar was attempted with people. Not long at all, as it turns out. The first remote-control experiments with humans are here.
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