06/10/2024
lol
'Like a cyborg horror movie... researchers create remote-controlled COCKROACHES'
""The Texan-based experts stuck miniature three-gramme rucksacks onto the cockroaches' backs with paint, containing a computer chip - which sends signals down two tiny wires into the nervous system to control leg movement - and rechargeable battery.
Their report, titled 'Locomotion control of hybrid cockroach robots', said: "Through the control of the input signal using a transmitter, a user can control the locomotion of the discoid cockroach with high repeatability."
- BASICALLY ZOMBIFYING THE COCKROACH.
Do people remember Biology classes where some of us may have passed electricity into the legs of dead frogs to run Frankenstein like experiments?
"Despite concerns over the ethics of human-controlled insects,"
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"After years of attempts, Texas engineers have created an insect cyborg by fusing a live cockroach with a miniature computer that is wired into its nervous system, meaning a human operator can push buttons to control where it scuttles.
Hong Liang, research project leader at Texas A&M University, said the cyborg insect could carry tiny video cameras, microphones or other equipment to record information from small pipes, broken sewers, or even collapsed buildings to find earthquake survivors.
He said: "Insects can do things a robot cannot. 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.”
Usually classed as vermin and a restaurant owner's worst nightmare, Mr Liang admitted he was initially repulsed by the cockroaches.
However, by working with the insects for so long he soon became fond of them, feeding them dog food and water.
The experiment has not been well-received across all quarters of the science community.
Sethu Vijayakumar, director of the Institute of Perception, Action and Behaviour at the University of Edinburgh, said: “As much as the technology is interesting, there are a lot of ethical issues before we go down that line, even with cockroaches."
"The Texan-based experts stuck miniature three-gramme rucksacks onto the cockroaches' backs with paint, containing a computer chip - which sends signals down two tiny wires into the nervous system to control leg movement - and rechargeable battery.
Their report, titled 'Locomotion control of hybrid cockroach robots', said: "Through the control of the input signal using a transmitter, a user can control the locomotion of the discoid cockroach with high repeatability.
"The work presented herein reports advancement in more precise control of hybrid insects through direct neural stimulation, and opens new research windows for future development."
However, the results showed at present the prototype is far from reliable with successful control occurring only 70 per cent of the time, meaning future models could include GPS tracking.
The insects can carry five times their weight, but do tire with the extra burden.
The report added: "The current system requires visual feedback from the operator in order to apply the necessary pulse characteristics to control the roach's turning behaviour.
"This method requires the operator to have extensive experience, as well as constant visual contact with the roach.
"Therefore, future improvements to our backpack will include onboard sensors that can relay the locomotion behaviour of the roach without having to see its movements."
Sensors may include a compass, device to measure speed, and GPS.
It added: "Other sensors may also be integrated into the roach backpack that can relay important information about the environment such as temperature, humidity and ambient gases."
Cockroaches have been targeted by scientists hoping to turn them into part creature and part machine since at least 1997.
That year Isao Shimoyama, of the University of Tokyo, directed cockroaches by stimulating their antennae, to confuse them into thinking they bumped into something.
However it had limited effect and wore off after they learned to ignore the foreign pulse.
Last April, scientists injected unfolded strands of DNA, known as nanobots, into cockroaches in an experiment that found they could be controlled in a similar way to a computer and living cells could store data."
Robo-Roach: US university creates remote-controlled cockroaches | Nature | News | Express.co.uk
http://www.express.co.uk/news/nature/562319/Robo-Roach-Texas-A-M-University-remote-controlled-cockroaches
Now thing about these Cyborg Insects to spy on People That innocuous looking insect on your bathroom wall may not be so innocent as it looks.
Incidentally, this technology of a roach carrying a camera and being used to spy on people bathing has been depicted in the movie: Fortress 2 starr. Christopher Lambert.
Fortress 2 (2000) - IMDb
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0179183/
They had these technologies long ago and it has been depicted via fiction to condition people to accept such ideas.
Now imagine a future where they also microchip people and remote control people.
