Programmable microbes? Humans turning into cyborgs? People extending or even living beyond their life spans? These all sound like things you can see in a science-fiction movie, but the US Department of Defense is actually taking steps to turn these things into reality. Since its foundation in July 2014, the Pentagon's Biological Technology Office (BTO) has been making giant steps in engineering, information sciences and biotechnology to gain technological advantage, particularly in warfare.Neurologist Geoffrey Ling, head of this new office, said the Pentagon's researches are looking at developing technologies that are previously unimaginable, such as robots and aircraft being controlled by the human mind, or human memories being downloaded into hard drives.
"It's abso-posi-frickin-lutely going to happen. The next 20 years are going to make our heads spin, because we've already crossed over into that realm," Ling said. At present, Ling and the rest of the BTO are developing ways to give American soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines "effective immunity" in the battlefield.
