How is this a good idea? How do you know the insects you make won't get out and kill you and your whole army?
Darpa Is Making Insects That Can Deliver Bioweapons, Scientists Claim
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Re: Darpa Is Making Insects That Can Deliver Bioweapons, Scientists Claim
#12How is this a good idea? How do you know the insects you make won't get out and kill you and your whole army?
I mean, imagine Dr. Strangelove, but with bugs instead of bombs.
Re: Darpa Is Making Insects That Can Deliver Bioweapons, Scientists Claim
#13Earlier quoted context omitted.
About 18-20 years ago I remember reading a thread where a poster basically said (as a counter to China) that the US has developed a blight that could basically wipe out all the rice in the world. It would be deployed via Mosquito and according to the poster had the ability to spread quickly and leave over 3 billion people without their main staple of food. Not a single shot would need to be fired. Within 6 months hal…
> Within 6 months half the worlds population would be gone. Within 6 months, a country with nuclear weapons is forced in a desperate situation. What could go wrong? Is there really a point to such a scenario between nuclear powers? It doesn't make much sense to me. The US might as well launch all its warheads from the start.
Of course, it's about plausible deniability and logistics: You can't launch your nuclear arsenal and then look deadpan at the camera and shrug your shoulders. But killing a third of the world's population with insects sounds so unbelievable that there would be skepticism even if the President held a news conference and claimed responsibility right into the microphone.
Re: Darpa Is Making Insects That Can Deliver Bioweapons, Scientists Claim
#14The same capabilities that are necessary to test defenses against chemical and biological attacks also prepare the way for offensive applications. If party A doesn't trust B, they are naturally wary of B's calls for A to halt defensive research. If B doesn't trust A, they are naturally wary that said "defensive" research is merely a precursor to or cover for weaponization. Party Z may later come along and use the res…
Biohazard by Ken Alibek is pretty descriptive of Soviet bio research efforts and denials of such. It does, however, read like fiction.
Re: Darpa Is Making Insects That Can Deliver Bioweapons, Scientists Claim
#15I kind of developed a hunch that maybe the Zika outbreak might've been cooked up in some lab in Siberia or Mongolia, and got dumped into South America as a warning shot. But honestly, who knows? Everything feels like the rumblings of full-spectrum warfare these days. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full-spectrum_dominance
Humans literally are not good enough at biochemistry to have created Zika.
Re: Darpa Is Making Insects That Can Deliver Bioweapons, Scientists Claim
#16Before I saw the article, I was thinking they were going to talk about SHRIMP[0] (SHort-Range Independent Microrobotic Platforms)
It's the upcoming DARPA Challenge for design improvements in insect-scale robotics. This includes miniature actuators, efficient and extremely compact high voltage DC-to-DC power converters to drive those small actuators with large forces, denser batteries, then putting everything together in autonomous systems.
[0] https://www.darpa.mil/attachments/SHRIMP_Proposers_Day_DIST_...
Re: Darpa Is Making Insects That Can Deliver Bioweapons, Scientists Claim
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Within 6 months half the worlds population would be gone. Within 6 months, a country with nuclear weapons is forced in a desperate situation. What could go wrong? Is there really a point to such a scenario between nuclear powers? It doesn't make much sense to me. The US might as well launch all its warheads from the start.
Of course, it's about plausible deniability and logistics: You can't launch your nuclear arsenal and then look deadpan at the camera and shrug your shoulders. But killing a third of the world's population with insects sounds so unbelievable that there would be skepticism even if the President held a news conference and claimed responsibility right into the microphone.
Who cares about deniability or skepticism in an apocalyptic scenario as described? Do you really think cool heads would prevail if China was put in a such a situation? Chaos, and desperate people would be the result, with a nuclear arsenal in the mix. And they would, most likely, blame whoever they want, proofs and rationality be damned.
Keep in mind, I don't deny that the military can find uses for what the article describes. But, to go from this, to deliberately provoking WW3 by massively launching such a weapon on China is suicide. It would provoke a counter-attack, guaranteed, no matter the political arguments.
Plausible deniability is fine when the targeted countries can't counter-attack, or the matter is relatively minor. But, directly against China and with world-ending repercussions? No way.
Re: Darpa Is Making Insects That Can Deliver Bioweapons, Scientists Claim
#18Who spends more? DARPA on weaponized insects, or The Gates Foundation on eradicating malaria by controlling mosquitos?
Malaria is the reason settler colonialism failed in Africa. If you remove malaria, Africa will be inevitably invaded by colonial settlers.
Re: Darpa Is Making Insects That Can Deliver Bioweapons, Scientists Claim
#19If you can make insects that can deliver viruses to save plants you can use insects to destroy food supplies of "enemies" and cause famine.
About 18-20 years ago I remember reading a thread where a poster basically said (as a counter to China) that the US has developed a blight that could basically wipe out all the rice in the world. It would be deployed via Mosquito and according to the poster had the ability to spread quickly and leave over 3 billion people without their main staple of food. Not a single shot would need to be fired. Within 6 months hal…
Corporations already have significant control over agriculture, especially seeds.
Re: Darpa Is Making Insects That Can Deliver Bioweapons, Scientists Claim
#20The same capabilities that are necessary to test defenses against chemical and biological attacks also prepare the way for offensive applications. If party A doesn't trust B, they are naturally wary of B's calls for A to halt defensive research. If B doesn't trust A, they are naturally wary that said "defensive" research is merely a precursor to or cover for weaponization. Party Z may later come along and use the res…
Significant difference is that nuclear weapons are not deniable, bioweapons are. The United States (and allies) have already used rain seeding, river damns, and a number of other techniques for damaging adversary nation's economic and agricultural abilities. It's even a relatively common practice in geopolitics (India uses the Indus river as a carrot/stick against Pakistan).
> The United States (and allies) have already used rain seeding, river damns, and a number of other techniques for damaging adversary nation's economic and agricultural abilities.
Would you provide more information in the form of a reliable source?