p2pnet - rss feed: Ah, the wonders of technology
A robot catfish, a remote-controlled dragonfly built by a watchmaker, and camera-toting pigeons are just three of the items now on display at a Science and Technology museum celebrating its 40th anniversary.
There’s also fake tiger poo, which pretty well gives it away because Yep - the museum is a CIA enterprise and the tiger, ahem, scat was a Vietnam era audio pickup that’s been mentioned in several dozen books on the war.
Keith Melton, a leading historian of intelligence, calls it "the finest spy museum you’ll never see," says Ted Bridis in his Associated Press report here.
Actualy, it’s the finest you’ll probably never see because it’s apparently accessible only to CIA employees and guests.
"The pigeons’ missions remain classified, made possible only after the CIA secretly developed a camera weighing only as much as a few coins," says Bridis. "An earlier test with a heavier camera in the skies over Washington failed after two days when the overburdened pigeon was forced to walk home."
In 2000, the CIA built a catfish it calls ‘Charlie,’ "a remarkably realistic swimming robot," says the report. "The spy agency still won’t disclose much about its mission, but experts speculated it collects water samples near suspected chemical or nuclear plants.
"One outside scientist consulted by The Associated Press said the catfish robot was so realistic - except for pectoral fins made slightly too large - that it might be eaten by predators while on its cloak-and-dagger missions."
The CIA also invented a remote-controlled dragonfly, "for delivering tiny listening devices outside windows: a bug carrying a bug. But the so-called ‘insectothopter’ with a miniature engine, built by a watchmaker, couldn’t fly straight in winds and didn’t work out."
Ah well - back to the drawing board.
