View of giant cockroaches (Blaberus giganteus) on display during an exibition at the Explora Park in Medellin, Antioquia department, Colombia on February 5, 2013. This species, usually found in tropical forests of South America, prefer high humidity and low light habitats, live about 20 months and are omnivorous. (credit: RAUL ARBOLEDA\/AFP\/Getty Images) <\/p>\n
DETROIT (WWJ) Cockroaches arent on the typical childs Christmas list, but an Ann Arbor company is hoping to change that with a cyborg device meant to turn the creepy crawlers into scientific entertainment they can control with a smartphone. <\/p>\n
Backyard Brains has developed a Kickstarter project, the RoboRoach,that allows one to cut live cockroaches and implant electrodes to control the insects movements. One hundred and eighty three people have pledged $12,339 exceeding the $10,000 goal to fund the project. <\/p>\n
Its like a remote-controlled car in the body of a live bug, the game Operation writ large. But the creators want it to be taken seriously, with Greg Gage saying his product advances the study of neural circuits, allowing students to make scientific discoveries. <\/p>\n
Twenty percent of the world will have a neurological disorder with no known cure and so what we are trying to do is get kids interested in neuro-science at an early age and and we can actually capture those kids and turn them into neuro-scientists and actually help us cure these diseases, said Gage. <\/p>\n
PETA doesnt see it like that.PETA, or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, is crying fowl and believes the RoboRoach kit should be declared illegal. PETA counsel Jerrod Goodman claims it promotes the practice of veterinary medicine without a license by altering an animal from its normal condition. <\/p>\n
This cruel and inhumane product instructs children to, without anesthesia, send down various parts of a living cockroachs body, Goodman said in a statement Tuesday. They stab a syringe through the animal, force electrodes into the animal, and superglue apparatuses to the inside and the outside of the cockroachs body. <\/p>\n
According to Backyard Brains website, The RoboRoach circuit is not a toy, but a tool for studying neural circuits and allows for students to make discoveries about electrical micro-stimulation. <\/p>\n
Cockroaches are intelligent animals, they have learning and memory capacities, Goodman said. They have sophisticated social lives with each other and they can feel pain. Its not okay to pull the wings off of flies and its not okay to teach children to torture and mutilate cockroaches. You can hate and dislike someone all you like, but it doesnt make it okay to torture them. <\/p>\n
According to Backyard Brains website, the cockroaches are anesthetized and the purpose of their product is to enable better retention of neuroscience concepts compared to traditional book based teachings. <\/p>\n
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Cyborg Cockroaches For Kids? Get The Christmas List Ready<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" View of giant cockroaches (Blaberus giganteus) on display during an exibition at the Explora Park in Medellin, Antioquia department, Colombia on February 5, 2013. This species, usually found in tropical forests of South America, prefer high humidity and low light habitats, live about 20 months and are omnivorous. (credit: RAUL ARBOLEDA\/AFP\/Getty Images) DETROIT (WWJ) Cockroaches arent on the typical childs Christmas list, but an Ann Arbor company is hoping to change that with a cyborg device meant to turn the creepy crawlers into scientific entertainment they can control with a smartphone. Continue reading