If you find yourself trapped under a collapsed building in the future, just speak into the nearest cockroach. The future of disasters may see these new cyborgs echolocate victims in need. North Carolina State researchers are behind this latest innovation in roach technology they are calling "biobots."
"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," Dr. Alper Bozkurt, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, told NC State News. "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."
Researchers across the world have long been plugging electronics into cockroach nervous systems to manipulate which direction the critters head. Last year even saw the introduction of Roboroach, the app that lets anyone with $99.99 play roach god and steer the insect around until it just dies of exhaustion.
Some people believe that such biological manipulation is unethical. Others stomp the hell out of every cockroach they see, surround their houses with poison, and refuse to sympathize.
Although the act of electro-manipulating a living being seems like something Richard Kuklinski might have done as a child, it's important to remember that this innovation could save human lives.
The NC State researchers' paper on microphone sensor research was presented at the IEEE Sensors 2014 conference in Valencia, Spain on Wednesday. If the technology becomes standard, roaches could soon be distributed around burning buildings to locate the trapped, and those guys driving firefighter SUVs will finally have something to do until the fire truck arrives. Problem solved, Hannibal Burress.