The black helicopters

The name suggests a deadly black helicopter with powerful rotor blades, probably military and used in covert operations. The stealth aircrafts come easily to mind. But nothing could be farther from the truth. These are tiny espionage devices which are sent out on a mission of surveillance. Some may weigh around one gram and may be as tiny as to fit on the tip of your fingers.
Science fiction? May be. But there are people who have seen these things around and watching them the reports say. These are said to have appeared at political events in the US capital. Experts in the field of robotics do not take these reports seriously. There are toy planes and small surveillance planes that can be controlled remotely. But none of them are as tiny as these. Robot planes can be shrunk to the size of a bird and no more. They say that at this juncture the technology does not exist to make tiny insect like surveillance fliers.

But at the same time it is curious to note that the CIA's Office of Research and Development had made something called the “insectohopter” in the 70’s . From the picture I saw it definitely looked like a dragon fly. It is said to have flown but was abandoned as a failure as it could not handle crosswinds. The insectohopter used a small amount of aviation oil to fly. It had a tiny engine which could make its wings flap and keep it in air. It is said that the CIA has declined to comment about the present development in the project.
With microchips shrinking in size every year so that the present day giant supercomputers would probably be replaced by computers so small in size one can carry inside one’s wallet, it could be imagined that advancement in other fields are also possible on the same lines. But in this case there are some natural elements in play. The rules of aerodynamics are different with respect to such tiny flying objects whether it is the original insect or the mechanical one. Precise manipulation of the wings is required to maneuver at such tiny scales. It is thought that there is no way to replicate nature on so small a scale.
There are reports that implants so tiny as to be injected into the blood stream and those which can be planted inside the ears of a person are in use even at present. And yet even these may not be necessary to monitor a person or his/her movements from a distance with the available “non lethal” tools that are in existence. So these toys, even if they are fully operational may not play a great part in surveillance in the future. All the same these could be used to confuse and frighten people. Think of a swarm of such weird insects following you around where ever you go. And what if micro transmitters fixed in them are transmitting inaudible messages into you!