Scientists Are Building Cyborg Cockroaches To Create The World’s Smallest Search And Rescue Workers

Scientists Are Building Cyborg Cockroaches To Create The World’s Smallest Search And Rescue Workers

Scientists Are Building Cyborg Cockroaches To Create The World’s Smallest Search And Rescue Workers Imagine being buried under building rubble and seeing a three-inch beetle squeeze through the cracks to pinpoint your location — and even deliver life-saving medication.  Lachlan Fitzgerald, a research assistant at the University of Queensland, paints a vivid picture of this scenario as he submerges a giant burrowing cockroach in an ice bath and attaches a tiny circuit board to its back.  “We see a future where after an urban disaster like an earthquake or a bombing, where humans can’t safely access the disaster site, being able to send in a bunch of cyborg beetles to navigate the disaster zone quickly and efficiently,” he told CNN.  In the biorobotics lab, Fitzgerald and his team have been fine-tuning new biohybrid technology that issues electrical pulses to their subjects’ antennae to direct their movements.  llustrated by Carra Sykes “Insects are so adaptable compared to an artificial robo…