FILL: Feed the birds . . .

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Originally posted 27 February 2007

Well, not exactly. There's a CNN report about experiments in China with remote-controlled pigeons over here http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/02/27/china.pigeon.reut/index.html and it ends with the wistful comment that "The report did not specify what practical uses the scientists saw for the remote-controlled pigeons."

Sounds like a job for imagineering!

So, put your thinking caps on. Suppose you had a remote-controlled pigeon. According to the report, right now they can steer them up, down, right and left, but let's take the leap of imagination and say you have whatever fine controls you need (landing, takeoff, jabbering with the neighbors - sure).

So what do you do with them? Formation flying over parades (splat!)? Dive-bombing the squirrels who are eating the birdseed in the feeder? Or . . .

Go ahead, tell us what practical (or laughably impractical) uses you foresee for remote-controlled pigeons.

tink
(or if you prefer, I suppose you could remote-control some other critter. Apparently this same lab said they had remote-controlled mice a while back, but no one knew what to do with them, either. Guess they didn't watch Cinderella or they would know that mice make great dressmakers :-)