Led by Dr. Alper Bozkurt, the NCSU team has been working with moths suspended in a rig that holds them in place while they fly, but still allows them to turn to either side. As the moths make those turns, implanted electrodes monitor the electrical signals sent by their brains to their flight muscles – those electrodes are first implanted when the moth is in its pupal stage, so they’ve grown right into its body by the time it emerges from the cocoon as an adult.
Using this setup, the researchers have been able to determine which signals are responsible for which flight maneuvers. They’re now working on a way of transmitting those signals to the moths as they’re in flight, so that they could be “steered” by a remotely-located human operator.
via Gizmag
