Cyborg cockroaches could be used as rescue workers

For someone trapped under a collapsed building, it’s perhaps not the way they imagined rescue would arrive - a tiny beetle scuttling into view with microphones attached to its antennae.

North Carolina researchers have been able to ‘steer’ cyborg cockroaches towards sounds using microphones which direct electrical impulses into their antennae.

The researchers believe cockroaches could be used as ‘rescue workers’ in confined spaces where human rescuers would struggle to get in - such as collapsed buildings.

[ Eating insects is the next big foodie trend: would you eat these? ]

The North Carolina team used microphones attached to roaches’ antenna, to deliver pulses which ‘steer’ creatures like reins on a horse, encouraging them to go in the direction of the sound.

The researchers hope that the technology could be used to trace the screams of trapped victims - after a 30 second test where the cyborg steers unerringly towards a speaker.

[ Lunar base 3D printed using moon materials planned by European Space Agency ]

'The goal is to use the biobots with high-resolution microphones to differentiate between sounds that matter – like people calling for help – from sounds that don’t matter – like a leaking pipe,’ says North Carolina’s Dr Alper Bozkurt.

‘Once we’ve identified sounds that matter, we can use the biobots equipped with microphone arrays to zero in on where those sounds are coming from.’

[ Doctors to use 'medical clowns' to calm children ]

Cyborg cockroaches are not a new idea - several universities have used computer chips to control insects successfully, and DARPA, the United States military’s ‘mad scientist’ wing, has even envisaged using the creatures as airborne spies.

You can even buy one.

‘This is the world’s first commercially available cyborg!’ says the cheerful page for Roboroach.

The £65 gadget/being is a living cockroach you “steer” via an app.

Roboroach, however, makes no claims to be able to save human lives.