Creepy, futuristic ‘cyborg' beetles may help rescue victims of natural disasters, scientists say
Between bomb-detecting rats and medical-grade maggots, it's clear that one person's pest is another's savior. The latest member of this unlikely league of heroes is a remote-controlled beetle that could potentially be used to rescue victims of natural disasters, per a spine-tingling study published in 'Advanced Science.'
'It [the beetle] could be used in search-and-rescue missions as it could go into small nooks and crevices in a collapsed building to locate injured survivors,' said Dr. Thang Vo-Doan, a researcher at the University of Queensland in Australia who spearheaded the research, Phys.org reported.
Advertisement
The team's revolutionary rescue project involves outfitting darkling beetles with removable backpacks that control the insect's antenna and forewings through the use of electrodes.
4 One of the cyborg bugs. 'If people have been trapped under an extensive amount of rubble, you want to be able to find them as quickly as possible and start planning how to get them out,' said Dr. Thang Vo-Doan.
University of Queensland
These cybernetically-enhanced insects are then piloted remotely using video game controllers so they can access survivors following a mine or building collapse.
Advertisement
Why deploy one of the world's oldest lifeforms instead of seemingly more advanced bots? Vo-Doan explained, 'Beetles possess many natural gifts that make them the masters of climbing and maneuvering in small, complex spaces such as dense rubble, that are difficult for robots to navigate.'
'Our work harnesses these gifts and adds programmable controls that allow for precise directional guidance, without affecting the lifespan of the beetle,' he added.
4 Unlike robots, the rescue beetles can navigate walls.
University of Queensland
In a video demonstration, these fun-size first responders can be seen navigating an obstacle course by moving side to side and going over walls like miniature marines — capabilities that elude their synthetic counterparts.
Advertisement
4 Rescue teams continue efforts to locate and recover individuals trapped beneath the rubble of a collapsed building in Bangkok, Thailand, on March 30, 2025.
Varit Soponpis/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
The rescue beetles are strong for their size, able to climb while toting a battery that weighs as much as their own body. The team is currently tweaking the design so the tiny recon artists can be outfitted with cameras and a power system that will enhance their ability to navigate rubble.
4 Dr. Thang Vo-Doan (right) and Research Assistant Lachlan Fitzgerald preside over their rescue beetle project.
University of Queensland
With their maneuverability, sensory capabilities and strength, these beetles could reduce the time it takes to locate disaster survivors to mere hours instead of days.
Advertisement
'If people have been trapped under an extensive amount of rubble, you want to be able to find them as quickly as possible and start planning how to get them out,' said Vo-Doan. He said he hoped the beetles would be able to 'easily move through chaotic environments to pinpoint a person's exact location, provide clues to any injuries, and give rescuers a picture of what needs to be done to free them.'
Researchers hope to test the tech in a real-life rescue situation within five years.
This is not the first time scientists have trialed using cyborg bugs as emergency responders. In 2014, researchers at North Carolina State University turned common cockroaches into remote-controlled biobots – bionic rescuers that can locate people trapped in rubble by using microphones.
'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, an assistant professor at the university.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
2 days ago
- New York Post
Creepy, futuristic ‘cyborg' beetles may help rescue victims of natural disasters, scientists say
It's a different kind of 'Help' by the Beetles. Between bomb-detecting rats and medical-grade maggots, it's clear that one person's pest is another's savior. The latest member of this unlikely league of heroes is a remote-controlled beetle that could potentially be used to rescue victims of natural disasters, per a spine-tingling study published in 'Advanced Science.' 'It [the beetle] could be used in search-and-rescue missions as it could go into small nooks and crevices in a collapsed building to locate injured survivors,' said Dr. Thang Vo-Doan, a researcher at the University of Queensland in Australia who spearheaded the research, reported. Advertisement The team's revolutionary rescue project involves outfitting darkling beetles with removable backpacks that control the insect's antenna and forewings through the use of electrodes. 4 One of the cyborg bugs. 'If people have been trapped under an extensive amount of rubble, you want to be able to find them as quickly as possible and start planning how to get them out,' said Dr. Thang Vo-Doan. University of Queensland These cybernetically-enhanced insects are then piloted remotely using video game controllers so they can access survivors following a mine or building collapse. Advertisement Why deploy one of the world's oldest lifeforms instead of seemingly more advanced bots? Vo-Doan explained, 'Beetles possess many natural gifts that make them the masters of climbing and maneuvering in small, complex spaces such as dense rubble, that are difficult for robots to navigate.' 'Our work harnesses these gifts and adds programmable controls that allow for precise directional guidance, without affecting the lifespan of the beetle,' he added. 4 Unlike robots, the rescue beetles can navigate walls. University of Queensland In a video demonstration, these fun-size first responders can be seen navigating an obstacle course by moving side to side and going over walls like miniature marines — capabilities that elude their synthetic counterparts. Advertisement 4 Rescue teams continue efforts to locate and recover individuals trapped beneath the rubble of a collapsed building in Bangkok, Thailand, on March 30, 2025. Varit Soponpis/NurPhoto/Shutterstock The rescue beetles are strong for their size, able to climb while toting a battery that weighs as much as their own body. The team is currently tweaking the design so the tiny recon artists can be outfitted with cameras and a power system that will enhance their ability to navigate rubble. 4 Dr. Thang Vo-Doan (right) and Research Assistant Lachlan Fitzgerald preside over their rescue beetle project. University of Queensland With their maneuverability, sensory capabilities and strength, these beetles could reduce the time it takes to locate disaster survivors to mere hours instead of days. Advertisement 'If people have been trapped under an extensive amount of rubble, you want to be able to find them as quickly as possible and start planning how to get them out,' said Vo-Doan. He said he hoped the beetles would be able to 'easily move through chaotic environments to pinpoint a person's exact location, provide clues to any injuries, and give rescuers a picture of what needs to be done to free them.' Researchers hope to test the tech in a real-life rescue situation within five years. This is not the first time scientists have trialed using cyborg bugs as emergency responders. In 2014, researchers at North Carolina State University turned common cockroaches into remote-controlled biobots – bionic rescuers that can locate people trapped in rubble by using microphones. '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, an assistant professor at the university.
New York Post
5 days ago
- New York Post
Rare Jupiter-sized planet discovered 3,200 light-years away using Einstein's space-time warping method
Astronomers used a method once theorized by Albert Einstein to find a mysterious and rare planet on the edge of our galaxy. The planet, AT2021uey b, is a Jupiter-sized gas giant located about 3,200 light-years from Earth in the galactic bulge. It takes AT2021uey b 4,170 days to orbit its dwarf star, according to a study published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. Advertisement According to Live Scence, AT2021uey b's shadow was first spotted in 2021 in data taken by the European Space Agency's Gaia telescope. It took the astronomers multiple check-ins to confirm the details of the planet. The astronomers discovered the planet using microlensing, a method used only three times previously, according to the study. Microlensing, which is based on Einstein's theory of relativity, relies on massive objects moving through the galaxy to warp the fabric of the universe, called space-time. Advertisement 3 An artist's illustration of the Gaia space telescope, which first spotted the microlensing event in 2021. ESA/ATG medialab / SWNS Dr. Marius Maskoliunas, astronomer at Vilnius University and co-author of the study, discussed in a statement posted in just how much work goes into using this method. 'This kind of work requires a lot of expertise, patience and, frankly, a bit of luck. You have to wait for a long time for the source star and the lensing object to align and then check an enormous amount of data,' Maskoliunas said in the statement. 'Ninety percent of observed stars pulsate for various other reasons, and only a minority of cases show the microlensing effect.' 3 A visualization of the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies. NASA/ESA et al. / SWNS Advertisement According to the study, microlensing occurs when a massive celestial body briefly positions itself directly in front of an even more distant star. As the planet settles in front of the star during its journey, the light begins to curve around the planet, magnifying the light of the star. According to the study, this temporary magnified light is what astronomers are searching for. Maskoliunas gave an example of how to imagine how microlensing works. 3 An illustration depicts NASA's Juno spacecraft in orbit above Jupiter. NASA/JPL-Caltech / SWNS Advertisement 'What fascinates me about this method is that it can detect those invisible bodies. Imagine a bird flying past you. You don't see the bird itself and don't know what color it is — only its shadow,' Maskoliunas said in the statement. 'But from it, you can, with some level of probability, determine whether it was a sparrow or a swan and at what distance from us. It's an incredibly intriguing process.' According to Live Science, there have been nearly 6,000 planets discovered since 1992 using two other more common practices known as transmit photometry and radial velocity. These more common practices will detect planets through host stars becoming dimmer due to said planets. They will also detect the wobble of the planets' gravitational pulls that occur.
Yahoo
26-06-2025
- Yahoo
Researchers turn to 'living libraries' in effort to solve growing threat to food supply: 'Pressures on food crops touch every country on our planet'
Imagine if the key to protecting our favorite foods from a changing climate was hidden away in a vault in the Arctic, and we just figured out how to unlock it. That's the real-world promise of a new gene selection technique that could revolutionize the way we grow food. Scientists from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and their global partners have developed a faster, more affordable method for identifying genes that help crops survive extreme weather. A recent study published in Nature Climate Change and reported by reveals that these researchers are looking toward seed banks, sometimes called "living libraries," for solutions. These collections store thousands of plant varieties with unique genetic traits that could make crops stronger and more resilient. "Climate-driven pressures on food crops touch every country on our planet, and this technique holds promise for making more use of our global genebanks," said study co-author Michael Kantar of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, per That means future versions of your favorite foods like coffee, rice, or chocolate might be better equipped to thrive despite rising temperatures. This new method, called environmental genomic selection, combines DNA data with climate models to predict how different plants will perform under future conditions. Instead of growing and testing thousands of plants, researchers can now use a smaller, diverse group to find the best candidates for breeding. By helping farmers grow crops that need less water, resist pests naturally, and thrive without harmful chemicals, this breakthrough could reduce pollution, protect natural resources, and support healthier communities. It also means we may have new ways to protect everyday staples we often take for granted, from the rice in your pantry to the chocolate in your snack drawer. The researchers tested the method on sorghum, a drought-tolerant grain, and found that it works on dozens of other crops as well, including barley, cannabis, and peppers. Their findings also show that countries heavily reliant on one crop may need genetic resources from other regions to stay resilient. What is the biggest reason you don't grow food at home? Not enough time Not enough space It seems too hard I have a garden already Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. With Crop Trust reporting more than seven million samples stored in global genebanks, this tool could help scientists turn these collections into real-world solutions, faster and more affordably than ever before. For everyday people and farmers alike, that means more reliable harvests, more nutritious meals, and a stronger food system no matter what the forecast brings. More food innovations, such as vertical farms and drought-resistant crops, are making it easier for people to eat well while reducing pollution. To help build a more sustainable food system, people can turn to plant-based food alternatives or even grow their own food, as well as compost food scraps. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
