Military researchers have built a tiny drone that looks and flies just like a hummingbird. Even your garden isn’t safe now. Next time you see that pretty hummingbird sucking nectar from your flowers, you may just think twice about how cute it is.

This thing flaps its robotic wings to stay in air like the real thing. So far, the bird has only stayed aloft for 20 seconds at a time, but it has shown its capability as a spy already. AeroVironment doesn’t just want the little drone to fly like a bird but also to look like one. So it has been given another $2.1 million(By DARPA) to build a humming bot version 2.0.

[New Launches]

Sometimes, there are places technology shouldn’t go and this is one of them. This robot feeds on flies. Well, let me explain. The pegs on the front are designed to encourage spiders to build webs on them. Once flies are stuck in the web, the arms snatch the flies away.

Then, the flies are put in a microbial fuel cell. So, yes, this robot actually feeds on flies. This is a pest control prototype, but it’s just a little too morbid, even for me.

[BotJunkie]

It takes a truly great artist to harness the power of the fly. What if you could trace a housefly’s path as it flies about your home with a trail of ink? That’s pretty much what this art installation does. It’s a robot arm connected to a sensor chamber that has some kind of fly-luring power. When a fly is inside the chamber, the arm jerks in time to the fly’s movements, and traces a chaotic drawing on a huge reel of paper. When the fly leaves, the paper scrolls, so the artwork is constantly evolving. It’s by artist David Bowen and it’s pretty fascinating stuff. Hit the link for a video.
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