Apologies to Johnathon Swift

 For the last year I have been reading the magazine - Scientific American. I have not renewed it for next year because, quite frankly, 90% of the time it is far above my scientific knowledge. I am sure stories about quantum physics, black holes and the inner working of DNA are all quite fascinating - but the information does me no good if I can't get past the first paragraph.

Today I am glad that I am not renewing it for another reason - it says me the hassle of cancelling my subscription.

There is an article in the December issue talking about raising flying beetles so that scientist can figure out how to attach cameras to their backs and by wiring electrodes into their nervous system, control where the beetles fly. The reason? So the army can sneak into caves and houses and see who is in there.

At first I thought it was a satire similar to Swift's "A Modest Proposal". I, in my ignorance and naivety was anxiously awaiting for the show to drop - perhaps the author would start to talk about attaching cameras to kittens, and by control their nervous systems, control where they walked - I wondered to myself if they would take the story to the point of using children - before they started to talk about the ethics of taking animals (beetles, kittens, children- it is all a slippery path) and programming them to assist the army.

But alas - they were serious and somewhat inclined to brag about their success. Apparently it is not enough to trick dolphins and dogs into doing a human's bidding  we now don't need to even pretend that the animals are on our side. There was no mention in the article of kittens or children - but you have to wonder what is next?