DARPA or Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is a company that has developed some mind blowing creations. In January of this year, DARPA showed off its new 1.8 gigapixel surveillance drone that can resolve details as small as six inches from an altitude of 20,000 feet. 
It is called ARGUS and is by far and away the highest resolution platform in the world. It can be attached to a predator drone and can observe a 25 square kilometer area at one time from an altitude of 20,000 feet. Two ARGUS equipped drones could keep a detailed eye over all of Manhattan. This begs to question, how many of these drones could we expect hovering over major cities in the nearby future. How long until everything you do is monitored. As amazing as this is, DARPA is not finished with just super cameras. Ever heard of “Micro-Drones”? Micro-Drones are hard to detect surveillance drones that are bug sized flying spies. They will operate with little or no direct human supervision in out of the way adverse environments. The University of Pennsylvania Lab showed off a recent network of nano quadro helicopters performing all kinds of acrobatic maneuvers.
The scientist behind this technology are turning to Mother Nature for guidance. Studying how insects fly is the key. These new micro-drones could easily fly into a ventilation system, unseen by cameras because of their small size and video anything or anyone they want. The next time you swat at a fly or mosquito, you better make sure they are real!
Drones now come in swarms!
DARPA is also turning its attention to the ocean. With its new Hydra project, there will be as many drones in the oceans as in the air. These too will not be operated by humans, but by an artificial intelligence. There will be drones releasing drones. It seems no where will be without them. In a recent article I read, places like California, Texas and Washington State police officers are demanding the use of drones to help them thwart crime. By the end of the decade it is believed that some 30,000 UAV’s will be soaring through the US skies. The final and most impressive piece of equipment by far and away is the DARPA ATLAS. This is the real life prototype T100 terminator from the 1984 movie classic.
Is this the precursor to the T100
It has 2 arms, 2 legs, 28 hydraulically actuated joints and could save your life one day. More likely machines like these will end it! I don’t know if I’m jumping the gun here but, autonomous men, cheetahs, mule-dogs, mosquitoes, jets, helicopters, submarines, jet ski’s, toasters, cars, key chains and yo yo’s all under non-human artificial intelligences seems like a problem to me. Maybe we would all be better off if a large solar flare took all of this technology away, including my blog and podcast. That way all I would have to worry about is whether or not to fish, hunt or sleep today…..
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