Did you know that cockroaches can help people survive disasters? According to ABC News, cockroaches, with their small armoured bodies, have an uncanny skill to survive any disaster, and researchers at North Carolina State University are hoping to capitalize on that by training them as first responders in disasters like earthquakes, fires, and chemical attacks.
The pests turned beasts-of-burden service animals could carry retrofitted backpacks carrying tiny cameras or microphones to navigate rubble and pinpoint the location of any trapped survivors. Researchers have already been successful in steering cockroaches along a path and are currently working on making the tiny electronics even smaller so that they may be carried by the roaches.
In the meantime, we’re thankful for the work our human Red Cross first responders do, but, who knows...maybe one day we’ll see cockroaches donning backpacks, video cameras, and tiny Red Cross vests!