francene--blog. Year 2013
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Nov 10th

11/10/2013

 
Picturewww.bbc.co.uk
Received with cries of being inhumane, a US company that has developed an electronic backpack that fits onto a cockroach allowing its movements to be controlled by a mobile phone app has defended itself against cruelty claims. The Backyard Brains company says that the device called Roboroach is intended to get children to be interested in neuroscience.

Here's the cruel part. For the electronic backpack to work, the cockroaches have to be placed in icy water to subdue them before sandpaper is used to remove the waxy coating on the shell of the insect's head. An electrode connector and electrodes are then glued on to the insect's body and a needle is used to poke a hole in their thorax in order to insert a wire. Their antennae are then cut and electrodes are inserted. A circuit is attached to their backs, and signals are received through a mobile phone app allowing users to control the cockroaches' movements to the left and to the right.


Picturewww.bbc.co.uk
Does this differ from a classroom of children using magnifying glasses to burn ants and then look at their tissue, or cutting up a frog?  I would hope the creatures were killed humanely before such practices, whereas Roboroach is alive. An animal behavior scientist has been quoted on US scientific websites as saying that the insects are harmed in the process. Some say use of the device will encourage children to think of living organisms as mere machines or tools.

The lifespan of a cockroach depends greatly on the species, with some living a matter of months and others surviving for years. New research suggests that, just like humans, they share their recommendations of the best food source. Cockroaches can eat just about anything, and can survive without food for long periods of time, which makes them scavengers.

The Natural History Museum tells us there are about 4,600 species of cockroach and fewer than 30 of these are considered pests. (There are about 5,400 species of mammals). The world's smallest cockroach is only 0.3mm long and lives in ant nests. The heaviest cockroach is the huge Australian Rhinoceros Cockroach at 8cm in length.


Picturewww.independent.co.uk
Cockroach farming is booming in China as the country looks for new, cheaper medicines for its rapidly ageing population.  Apart from being a food delicacy in China and Thiland, farmers are using cockroaches in Asian medicine and in cosmetics. When dried, the product goes for as much as $20 a pound. China has about 100 cockroach farms, and new ones are opening almost as fast as the prolific critters breed. But even among Chinese, the industry was little known until August, when a million cockroaches got out of a farm in neighboring Jiangsu province. The Great Escape made headlines around China and beyond, evoking biblical images of swarming locusts.

The miracle drug can cure a number of ailments and they work faster than other medicine. Some Chinese hospitals use a cream made from powdered cockroaches as a treatment for burns and in Korea they use it for cosmetic facial masks. A syrup invented by a pharmaceutical company in Sichuan promises to cure gastroenteritis, duodenal ulcers and pulmonary tuberculosis.

Whichever way you look at it, humans are using cockroaches for their own ends.


amar naik link
11/9/2013 06:52:42 pm

well it is a general strategy that humans exploite nature for their own use. i was never aware of this device. so a new learning on your blog :)

Rachel link
11/9/2013 08:04:28 pm

Clearly it's harmful to the cockroach, and I see the argument that it teaches children to treat nature as something meant for their own amusement. However, most of us would just stomp on a cockroach if we saw it in the house anyway: the ones that turn up in people's houses are the pest kind and we generally want to get rid of them. So I can't bring myself to feel much sympathy! But thanks for the interesting post!

Regards,
Rachel

Amy link
11/9/2013 08:32:55 pm

Cockroaches are really smart, and sneaky, too! Do they feel pain? I kind of doubt it. I've heard that they can lay eggs, even after they are dead (the females, that is). If I see one in my house, I don't hesitate to squash it, either. I learned something new on your blog again, Francene! Very interesting!

Francene Stanley link
11/10/2013 02:22:25 am

The egg-laying would be an automatic response.
As to whether they can feel pain--I guess they're like fish, which have been proven to do so.
I'd never squash one if I could avoid it. I'd place a glass on it like a spider.

Bek Mugridge link
11/10/2013 06:13:57 pm

To say I am horrified is an understatement!
Who even for a second thought this was OK?
Pest or not they are a living thing and no living thing should be tortured.
Just because a creatures does not audibly scream does not mean that it doesn't feel pain...
I do not like cockroaches at all in my house and I will admit to killing them but I would never condone this. Awful.

Sophie Bowns link
11/10/2013 08:19:21 pm

That's quite cruel (even though I hate cock roaches) any type of animal testing should be banned!


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    Francene Stanley, author of many published novels. If you like my writing, why not consider purchasing one of my books? You'll see them on the sidebar below.
    Born in Australia, I moved to Britain half way through my long life.

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