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Why go to the trouble of designing tiny flying robots from scratch, when there are already ready-made insects that are about the right size? That's the thinking behind research being conducted at North Carolina State University, which is aimed at converting moths into "biobots."

The veritable fly-on-the-wall spying device, deployable in the meeting rooms of enemy leaders, may be one step closer to realization thanks to a new breakthrough in our understanding of how flapping wings work.