Sneaky Robot Roaches

Remote-controlled cyborg cockroaches could one day be among the first responders at disaster scenes to help locate survivors.

A team of researchers at North Carolina State University has created a swarm ofcyborg cockroaches, nicknamed "biobots," that are equipped with microphones to pick up sounds and trace them to their sources. The researchers hope the biobots could one day be used in disaster-relief situations to locate survivors.

sneaky spying robot roaches

Yeah...for saving survivors. Who is really that dense? I'm Raid'n my house tonight.

a reply to: Jenisiz

I'm sure that they will prioritize this expensive cutting edge technology to help victims of the next earthquake or tsunami. They totally won't use it for illegal spying. They'd never do that right?

a reply to: Jenisiz

I wonder if they got any ideas from this movie scene:

Fifth Element: Remote controlled cockroach scene


When I saw that scene, I figured cockroach spying was probably in our future, if they aren't already doing it. Controlling the cockroach's movement as in that movie scene is probably beyond our present capability, however, but making robot cockroaches isn't.

And sure they could be used at disaster scenes too, why not?

a reply to: Arbitrageur

As soon as I saw the title lol

Actually I have heard of them being able to manipulate roaches on basic levels for years now.

Reminds me of Operation Acoustic Kitty

Then there is this interesting method of remotely using your cat to spy on you

Time to stock up on boric acid.

a reply to: nukedog
Yeah is been around for awhile. Flying insects were done back in 2012ish

originally posted by: Jenisiz
a reply to: nukedog
Yeah is been around for awhile. Flying insects were done back in 2012ish

Really? That's wild. I would believe it. From what I recall reading they were able to not only transplant heads on roaches but also put little chips on their bodies and control them. It's kind of old news I think. I'm sure the technology has jumped way ahead by now.

You can buy robot cockroach kits at Toys R us, Walmart etc. I think I'll terrorize my cat, nah. I have Madagascar Roaches. They're scary. Or I could get a device to strap on the back of a roach - Robo Roach. I'm gonna have fun experimenting this winter. FYI, PETA is against the use of live cockroaches.

I like this part from the article:

But this kind of technology has stirred up an ethics debate. Allowing people, especially untrained individuals, to attach the backpacks and electrodes to the cockroaches has raised concerns about animal cruelty among some advocates and experts.

So, this is unethical, but mass genocide of cockroach colonies with pesticides is okay?
LOL

Dex

It does seem kind of cruel. But these little roaches crawling around my pad.... There is no death good enough for them

a reply to: Jenisiz
No thanks to my lack of reading comprehension, I failed to notice these was BIOBOTS. I thought they were jsut robots. But now I see they're cockroaches whom're chipped and controlled by humans. This is truly something interesting. Reminds me of dolphins being used to find mines in hte ocean. Very very big potential for all this, depending on how far we let it go. Thanks for the ehads up.

a reply to: Jenisiz

You know the back story to all those people being hacked to death in a warring tribe conflict in Rwanda years ago, right?
One of the other tribal peoples of the Tutsis and the Hutus called the other "cockroaches," in a tribal conflict in 1994 which resulted in as many as 20% of the total population of Rwanda being killed. It was a bloody,horrifying ordeal for all the people in Rwanda in the 90s and let's all hope it stays there, in the '90s, and is firmly left behind now.

Just saying this because some people actually call other people, "cockroach." It bears remembering in threads such as these, cause you never know who someone is actually referring to, and I say who instead of whom, as whom is actually grammatically correct in this case, but seems to me to sound objectifying….sometimes I hate language.

Anyone who knows me knows I don't like symbolic communication, or much of symbolic anything anymore, despite the fact that I used to admire authors and the movies in which symbols were used: or perhaps the ability to express a story with them well, at least. I try these days to communicate as succinctly and as clearly as possible, without the uise of hidden meaning, innuendo or otherwise. This is partly why…..
And to those who would call any other human being a cockroach, regardless of their actions, it is possible to make almost anything appear to be true these days, despite the fact the direct opposite may well, in fact, be the truth.
tetra