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.
the one on the far left, of course.
Fantastic with lightly sautéed and served with marinara sauce and an oaky Merlot.
Sure, For instance, they identify each other by their smell, and are easily fooled by robotic leaders.
Not so strange. The robots had some variability programmed in. First followers, then some leadership 'preferences' but still cohesive with the group.
Exactly!
I for one welcome our new roach masters.......
Hail, Roaches!
Maybe some Demagogues are cockroaches, some are bedbugs, some are malarial mosquitos, and some are headlice.....
Good enough place to bump this thread and I like your freepname.
The Bug in the Machine.
This perfectly explains how Democrats reach a consensus without actually having to conspire. They all migrate towards the dark side. Its really simple.
Caramelgal, to quote Larry the Cable Guy, “I don’t care where you’re from, that’s funny right there!”
Let's just hope they don't have the same evolutionary resilience.
"But don't you go falling in love with it now, 'cause we're taking it with us when we leave here next month." ~ Cousin Eddie
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
I wonder how this remarkable research would apply in infiltrating Al qaeda...what pheromone would work in that setting.
goat s—t.
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