Jen Copestake, a reporter from BBC’s technology television program “Click,” recently visited Texas A&M University's mechanical engineering department to showcase the result of a 10-year research project. Carlos Sanchez, a Ph.D. student in the department was interviewed, and the question of whether cyborg cockroaches can help in nuclear disasters was raised.
While most people see roaches as filthy insects, a research team at Texas A&M led by Dr. Hong Liang, has proven that these roaches, when outfitted with small sensors, can have their movements controlled.
“The future technology is at work today,” said Liang.
Unlike previous technology that manipulated the roach’s movement through stimulating antennae, this study inserts electrodes directly into the roach’s nervous system. In the study the overall success rate of initiating and maintaining a turn averaged around 60 percent.
The details of the study were recently published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, which Liang says brought the current attention.
To learn more about the potential benefits of “cyborg roaches” visit the “Click” website.
