Posted on 11/16/2007 8:54:32 PM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - Tiny robots programmed to act like roaches were able to blend into cockroach society, according to researchers studying the collective behavior of insects. Cockroaches tend to self-organize into leaderless groups, seeming to reach consensus on where to rest together.
For example, when provided two similar shelters, most of the group tended to gather under the same one.
Hoping to learn more about this behavior, researchers led by Jose Halloy at the Free University of Brussels, Belgium, designed small robots programmed to act like a cockroach.
The robots didn't look like the insects and at first the roaches fled from them, but after the scientists coated the robots with pheromones that made them smell like roaches the machines were accepted into the group, nesting together with the insects.
Given a choice, roaches generally prefer a darker place and the robots were programmed to do the same.
When given a choice of a darker or lighter shelter, 75 percent of the cockroaches and 85 percent of the robots gathered under the darker one.
Then, to see if the robots had really become part of society and could influence group decisions, Halloy and colleagues programmed them to prefer shelters with more light.
The result, the lighter shelter was preferred by the mixed group 61 percent of the time, while the cockroaches alone picked it just 27 percent of the time.
On the other hand, in 39 percent of cases the robots, despite being programmed to prefer a lighter shelter, joined the cockroaches under the darker one.
The findings were reported in Friday's issue of the journal Science.
Science: http://www.sciencemag.org
This undated handout photo provided by the journal Science shows cockroaches and robots interacting for common shelter selection. Tiny robots programmed to act like cockroaches were able to join and participate in cockroach society, according to researchers studying the collective behavior of insects. Cockroaches tend to self-organize into leaderless groups, seeming to reach consensus on where to rest together. (AP Photo/Science)
Cool.
The result, the lighter shelter was preferred by the mixed group 61 percent of the time, while the cockroaches alone picked it just 27 percent of the time.
Now can you fit the robots with little bomb vests...
Roaches are crunchy.
Somehow, this is ... unsettling.
due to global warming, no doubt..
The cyber roaches turned to the dark side.
Which one is James Carville?
But mom, some of those guys don’t look like us. They look more like Winnebagos.
That’s ok, honey. They smell like us. That’s all that matters.
Hopefully, this will mean an increase in surveillance of the dems.
kil em all let god sort em out.
They’ve defected to the roaches and have turned over their technology. The roach armies are now developing robots which they will use to infiltrate us.
So does this have implications for understanding Democrats?
They are so much like cockroaches that I am sure we must be able to learn something about the Demagogues via careful study of the ugly little bugs.....
marked to read later...
I’m beginning to see why the roaches initially ran when seeing these coming.
Especially when they are deep fried. Yummy. Good source of protein. Naturally low fat.
No, no, no. You got it all wrong. You want to study bedbugs...they stay near their hosts, hiding during the day, but when their victims sleep, they come out and suck their victims' blood.
And they are almost impossible to get rid of without chemicals like DDT.
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