Tech
RoboRoach: Company Uses Microstimulation to Control Insects, is it Ethical?
Kathleen Lees
First Posted: Nov 04, 2013 01:01 PM EST
Thanks to Backyard Brains, a Michigan Company known for its science edge, developers have come out with a new toy that's sure to be all the rage in dorms, homes and apartments everywhere. (Especially for those of us who want to scare an annoying roommate!)
It's known as the RoboRoach, and with a little help from your cell phone, the device can creep across the floor via microstimulation of the animal's antenna nerves, according to the organization's website.
Thanks to Greg Gage of Backyard Brains, this product is designed to be more than just a toy. He's hoping to get children interested in the study of neural circuits.
"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 we can actually capture those kids and turn them into neuro-scientists and actually help us cure these diseases," Gage said, via UPI.
This was developed as part of their Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a project, with a goal of $10,000. Fortunately, more than 80 people donated to the group, equaling over $12,000 in funds.
Yet not everyone is too fond of this new idea. Some believe that it violates the state's health code and a law regarding plants and insects.
In fact, PETA has written to the Michigan attorney general, the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, asking that appropriate action is taken regarding such violations, according to a press release.
What do you think?
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First Posted: Nov 04, 2013 01:01 PM EST
Thanks to Backyard Brains, a Michigan Company known for its science edge, developers have come out with a new toy that's sure to be all the rage in dorms, homes and apartments everywhere. (Especially for those of us who want to scare an annoying roommate!)
It's known as the RoboRoach, and with a little help from your cell phone, the device can creep across the floor via microstimulation of the animal's antenna nerves, according to the organization's website.
Thanks to Greg Gage of Backyard Brains, this product is designed to be more than just a toy. He's hoping to get children interested in the study of neural circuits.
"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 we can actually capture those kids and turn them into neuro-scientists and actually help us cure these diseases," Gage said, via UPI.
This was developed as part of their Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a project, with a goal of $10,000. Fortunately, more than 80 people donated to the group, equaling over $12,000 in funds.
Yet not everyone is too fond of this new idea. Some believe that it violates the state's health code and a law regarding plants and insects.
In fact, PETA has written to the Michigan attorney general, the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, asking that appropriate action is taken regarding such violations, according to a press release.
What do you think?
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone