If they knew how to eat them in the industrial slums of Liverpool and Manchester in the 19th century, they would have passed out. And Engels wouldn’t have written that about the “condition of the working class in England,” so the capitalist world would have been quieted by “a specter [that] is haunting Europe”!
They didn’t know, however. That cockroaches are a delicious, juicy, nutritious snack. We are already learning: insects and worms are perfectly nutritious food for the masses. And whoever continues to be disgusted will be denounced as… entomophobic!
But mass-produced cockroaches (beyond their own reproduction rate) will be many. Another use for them should be found. And fortunately, some researchers found it.
The demons of the Japanese RIKEN institute foresaw that cockroaches have the additional advantage of being used for “research and rescue” missions, as well as for environmental monitoring. What was needed was to make them cyborgs – no, that is, for the frying pan.
They developed micro-technology that fits inside the cockroach’s body without hindering its movements. The battery is charged by microscopic and ultra-thin photovoltaic cells (which means that the cyborg cockroaches won’t be “living” in the dark…). Their movement is controlled via thin metallic “exoskeletons” on their legs, which are powered by the battery. Obviously, they carry various sensors and micro-transmitters – the result is something of the kind “I bugged the cockroach.”
Japanese researchers tested the result on 6-point long cockroaches. They managed to remotely control them for half an hour – we don’t know what happened after that. In any case, this is pleasant news for technology and progress. And what’s even more pleasant is that the head of the research, named Kenjiro Fukuda, foresees that other insects will be utilized in the same way. Such as beetles and grasshoppers.
Sitting in the summer shade of a pine tree in a few years is not guaranteed by Mr. Fukuda. Do you know what cicadas that “hang their operating system” are?