{"id":256,"date":"2013-12-06T09:52:36","date_gmt":"2013-12-06T09:52:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dave0.nfshost.com\/sbsb\/index.php\/2013\/12\/06\/cyborg-cockroaches-darpa-and-girls-in-stem\/"},"modified":"2013-12-06T09:52:36","modified_gmt":"2013-12-06T09:52:36","slug":"cyborg-cockroaches-darpa-and-girls-in-stem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.davideriknelson.com\/sbsb\/index.php\/2013\/12\/cyborg-cockroaches-darpa-and-girls-in-stem\/","title":{"rendered":"Cyborg Cockroaches, DARPA, and Girls in STEM"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve written another article for The Magazine<\/i>, this time about the RoboRoach: Bug Testing \u2014 The Magazine<\/a>
\nWhereas my first RoboRoach article, for the Ann Arbor Chronicle<\/i><\/a>, was long and thorny and wrapped in the tangled ethics of doing unnecessary surgery on what are otherwise considered pests\/pet-fodder, this article is much shorter, more readable, and focused on the tech itself, its DARPA roots, and girls in STEM. It starts like this:
\n<\/p>\n

\nThe hand in the video scoops up a large beige cockroach and thrusts it into a jar of ice water. The roach struggles briefly, then grows calm as the cold anesthetizes it. It remains stoic as the hand scoops it up, sands away the waxy coating on its exoskeleton, glues down a homemade electrode bundle, and then begins surgery.
\nWe see only the hands of the bug surgeon, who uses Silly Putty to secure the roach to a cutting board, then perforates the thorax and inserts the first of three hair-thin silver electrodes. Following a break for another ice-water anesthetic, the hands cut down the antennae (which are hollow) and insert an electrode in each. The roach is periodically sponged off with a cotton swab; dabs of superglue secure each component.
\nThis is not a low-fi sci-fi YouTube film, an art project, a political statement, or a prank. This is a RoboRoach, touted by its surgeon-creators as \u201cthe world\u2019s first commercially available cyborg.\u201d It\u2019s a living, breathing, radio-controlled roach designed by Backyard Brains in a cramped suite of tatty second-floor offices next to a yoga studio in Ann Arbor, Michigan. And you can buy one, today, for yourself or your favorite precocious niece. . . .<\/div>\n

The Magazine<\/i> is only $2 per month (with two issues per month and full access to the archive–more than 30 issues, including another article from me, back in issue #9<\/a>), and I believe you can have it for FREE for the first week.
\nI.e., even if you like the wherewithal for a decent cup of joe, you can still read this article–hell, read all the articles you want for the next seven days. This particular issue has a great piece on marathons, heart attacks and caffeine, and The Magazine<\/i> ran a great series on drones back in issue #13<\/a>.
\nIf you’re digging this sort of tight, tech-ish, medium-length journalism–real journalism, where real writers actually do real research and are then held accountable by real editors with real editorial chops–consider backing The Magazine: The Book (Year One)<\/a> on Kickstarter. You’ll be helping to fight the Good Fight, I’ll get a reprint fee (yeah!), and the premiums are pretty damn rad (esp. the $15 level–which is a great deal on a year’s subscription to The Magazine<\/i>–and the $50, which gets you both the 200+page hardcover book and a year’s subscription).
\n