Roaches to the rescue

Cockroaches may one day be the smallest members on search and rescue teams. Researchers at North Carolina State University developed a method that turns common cockroaches into cyborg roaches, or biobots, by outfitting them with tiny electronic backpacks equipped with miniature microphones that pick up sounds and steer the cockroaches to the source. The researchers envision using the biobots in the aftermath of a disaster, such as for locating survivors in a collapsed building.

The research team also developed technology to keep the biobots within range of each other to provide a reliable mobile wireless network and to send them scurrying to light sources to recharge solar panels on the backpacks.

Before biobots are ready for use, researchers must develop a way to distinguish sounds. “The goal is to use the biobots with high-resolution microphones to differentiate between sounds that matter—like people calling for help—from sounds that don’t matter—like a leaking pipe,” said Alper Bozkurt, senior author and assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at North Carolina State University.

Viral mutation

Just as the global campaign to eliminate polio enters its final phase, researchers have discovered two genetic mutations in a deadly strain of the virus. Routine vaccinations have reduced the number of cases of polio by 99 percent, from an estimated 350,000 cases in 1988 to only 650 reported cases in 2011.

Researchers tested the mutated virus strain with blood samples from 60 vaccinated people. Antibodies were not effective against the mutated strain in up to 30 percent of the cases, leaving those individuals unprotected. The mutated strain is rare but is likely circulating and could lead to fatal epidemics, the researchers said. —J.B.

Remote control

Researchers at the University of Washington have demonstrated that a person’s thoughts can be electronically transmitted to another person’s brain.

The study consisted of three teams, each with a sender and a receiver. The sender, sitting in front of a computer game, was connected by electrodes to an electroencephalography (EEC) machine that was connected to the internet.

In a separate building, the receiver wore a cap with a transcranial magnetic stimulation coil placed near the brain region that controls hand movements. The receiver’s right hand was positioned over a touchpad capable of firing a cannon on the sender’s computer screen. The receivers could not see or hear the computer game.

The senders were unable to physically interact with the game, but when they thought about moving their hand, the EEC machine read the brain activity and transmitted electrical pulses via the internet to the receivers, causing the receiver’s hand to press the button on the touchpad and fire the cannon on the sender’s screen. The receiver’s hand responded within a split second after the sender’s brain initiated the signal. Accuracy varied among the teams from 25-83 percent.

The researchers plan to expand their study to include brain-to-brain transfer of more complex information. They believe it may one day be possible to transfer knowledge directly, such as from a teacher’s brain to the brain of a student. —J.B.