Most people would rather not deal with cockroaches. Not only are they pests who infest and eat our homes, but they're also one of the few species that would reportedly survive a nuclear holocaust. But for some reason, scientists have been experimenting with them. The latest roach-focused scientific venture involves turning cockroaches into cyborgs and using them to save lives.
According to News.com.au, Texas A&M University is trying to create a rig that would let a human being control the nervous center of a cockroach. To do this, the engineers have built an inch-long rig that would attach to the roach's nerve center and use electricity signals to control their front legs. This pack would allow the driver to control the direction of the roach 60 percent of the time.
But why on earth would you make a bionic cockroach?
"Insects can do things a robot cannot," lead researcher Hong Liang told The Guardian. "They can go into small places, sense the environment, and if there's movement, from a predator say, they can escape much better than a system designed by a human....We wanted to find ways to work with them."
Liang's opportunity to work with such bugs made her appreciate their biological complexity a lot more.
"When I first saw them, my hair stood up," she said. "But I went on to keep some in my office as pets for a while. They are actually beautiful creatures."
This isn't the first time scientists have used cockroaches for robotic/medical tests. Scientists have placed nanobots in cockroaches before to test the nanobot's viability. They've also used them to determine how effective a cancer treatment could be.
