Gizmorama - March 11, 2015

Good Morning,

Cockroaches have always had a bad rap since... forever. Now, cockroaches are going for a new image thanks to researchers at Texas A&M. Remote-controlled search-and-rescue roaches are on the way carry out reconnaissance work in the wake of disasters to keep human's safe from potential harm. That doesn't bug me.

Learn about this and more interesting stories from the scientific community in today's issue.

Until Next Time,
Erin

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*-- Remote-controlled search-and-rescue roaches are coming --*
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (UPI) - Cockroaches may soon carry out reconnaissance work in the wake of disasters, exploring collapsed buildings and nuclear meltdowns before humans are sent into harm's way.

As researchers at Texas A&M recently showed, the durable insects can quickly be turned into remote-controlled cyborgs. They did so by implanting electrodes to control certain nerves in three species of cockroaches. On the test subjects' backs, the researchers installed a tiny, lightweight backpack featuring a microcontroller, wireless transceiver and battery.

The technology allowed scientists to remotely deliver tiny electric shocks, steering the insect left and right. The new study proved their efforts were successful in pulling the cockroaches in the proper direction 60 percent of the time.

"[They] go anywhere you guide them to," Hong Liang, a materials scientist at Texas A&M, told Live Science.

Cockroaches could prove ideal for exploring nuclear and chemical disasters, as the insects are remarkably immune to radiation.

"Insects can do things a robot cannot," Liang told the Guardian. "They can go into small places, sense the environment, and if there's movement, from a predator say, they can escape much better than a system designed by a human."

"We wanted to find ways to work with them," he added.

Liang and his colleagues are now working on a device that would use vibration to manipulate the cockroaches movement. This would negate the need for the invasive surgery that the electrodes installation requires.

The study was published this week in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface.

Similar roach-controlling technology has be sold as a kit by a Kickstarter-backed company called Backyard Brains.


*-- Smartphones may make people dull --*
WATERLOO, Ontario (UPI) - A new survey suggests that, for some, smartphones may encourage lazy thinking -- allowing users to solve problems via computer rather than exercise their brainpower.

The survey looked at three previous studies involving 660 participants that attempted to define and quantify their analytical strategies and skills. The researchers looked at thinking styles on a scale ranging from intuitive to analytical. Participants verbal and numeracy skills were also measured.

Analysis of participants smartphone habits showed the more analytic thinkers who showed stronger cognitive ability spent less time using the search engine function on their devices.

Analysis suggests intuitive thinkers are more likely to take shortcuts in the process of problem-solving and knowledge acquisition, while more analytical thinkers are likelier to second-guess themselves and take a more detailed and logical cognitive approach.

"Decades of research has revealed that humans are eager to avoid expending effort when problem-solving and it seems likely that people will increasingly use their smartphones as an extended mind," study co-author Nathaniel Barr, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Waterloo, explained in a press release.

Researchers also found that higher use of social media and entertainment applications was correlated with lower cognitive skills.

"Our research provides support for an association between heavy smartphone use and lowered intelligence," study co-author Gordon Pennycook, a psychologist at Waterloo, added. "Whether smartphones actually decrease intelligence is still an open question that requires future research."

The study was published this week in the journal Computers in Human Behavior.

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