"All I Asked For Was A Freakin' Fruit Fly With A Freakin' Laser Beam For A Head, Okay?!"

Okay ... so I lied. I'm blogging. A little. So sue me.

No sooner had I posted my last whine, than these little gems came my way. They are as disturbing as they are funny.

Scientists Create Remote-Controlled Flies

Yale University researchers say their study that used lasers to create remote-controlled fruit flies could lead to a better understanding of overeating and violence in humans.

Using the lasers to stimulate specific brain cells, researchers say they were able to make the flies jump, walk, flap their wings and fly.

"Ultimately, that could be important to understanding human psychiatric disorders," Miesenbock said. "That's really futuristic stuff."

Remote control of the brainless? Karl Rove, call your office! We've just discovered the means to get BlueStaters to vote Republican!

And then there's this--somewhat more disturbing:

Replacement Arm, Good As New

Scientists have had a string of remarkable successes lately, taking signals from the brains of monkeys and men, and using them to move mechanical arms.

So, basically, what Luke Skywalker gets in Empire Strikes Back, after Darth chops off his hand. Except, researchers won't have a long, long time to get this limb ready. Darpa wants the robo-arm stat -- in four years or less.

Arms now. This next? And I hear DARPA's working on this thing called SkyNet....

Monk