These Cyborg Cockroaches Could Save Your Life—No, Really

[Mina] These cyborg cockroaches could save your life.

No, really.

Small robots and drones are already employed

to help respond to disasters

by locating victims in locations that are too hard,

or dangerous to send humans, like collapsed buildings.

But what sets the so-called Paraborg apart

is that it's also designed to directly administer first aid.

The researchers based in Australia

who developed the Paraborg relied

on a giant burrowing cockroach from northern Queensland.

They developed two types of Paraborgs.

One equipped with a camera,

and another fitted with an automatic injection mechanism

to administer medication.

To create the cyborgs, the team anesthetized them

before applying electrodes and microchips.

By applying electrical stimuli to electrodes

embedded in the cockroach's antennae and cerci,

a pair of protruding sensory organs

at the rear of the abdomen,

researchers were able to remotely control

the bug's direction of travel and walking speed.

While the idea of receiving medical care from a cockroach

might be a little skin crawling,

the new cyborg bug could one day help buy human rescuers

valuable time in a disaster zone.

Oh, and when the equipment's removed,

the Parabogs go back to living their lives

as normal cockroaches.