Pentagon Plans "Stealth Shark Spies'

More weird ideas from DARPA:

Pentagon scientists are planning to turn sharks into "stealth spies" capable of tracking vessels undetected, a British magazine has reported.

Shark brain implants that could turn the fish into “stealth spies” are being studied in a research project funded by the Pentagon.

Swimming in a ship’s wake, a remote-controlled shark could track an enemy vessel’s movements without being noticed, and under its own power.

The navy also hopes to exploit sharks’ natural ability to sense delicate electrical gradients and follow chemical trails left by a vessel.
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A team led by Prof Barry Costa-Pierce, of the University of Rhode Island, has already developed implants that can make fish surface on command in studies that focus on tuna, cobia and salmon.

The research builds on experimental work to control animals by implanting tiny electrodes in their brain, already used by Prof John Chapin’s team at the University of New York to guide rats through rubble. In this case, the implant stimulates a part of the brain wired to a rat’s whiskers. The rats turn towards the “tickled” side to see what has brushed by.

The rats have been trained to pause for 10 seconds when they smell a target chemical, such as plastic explosive. The New York Police Department is considering recruiting the rats to its disaster response team, to look for hidden bombs or people trapped under rubble.