Cyborg Roaches to the Rescue

Ostensibly for use as remote-controlled locators of earthquake survivors, but the ulterior motives are obvious.

"The research builds on studies that have attached radio tags and sensors to insects to learn how their muscles work. Bozkurt and colleagues took this a step further and stimulated their muscles.

Their remote control system consists of two parts: antennae stimulators and another on their rear end.

Cockroaches use their antennae to feel their way around the environment. “What we do is we insert tiny electrodes to the antennae and we send low-power pulses [to them],” Bozkurt said.

The pulse simulates the antenna feeling an obstacle, such as a wall, causing the cockroach to turn the other direction. Buzz the left antenna, the cockroach turns right; buzz the right one, the bug turns left.

Full story here: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/futureoftech/remote-control-tech-turns-cockroaches-beasts-burden-985085

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