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from the keep-going-and-going-and-going dept.
Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
Anyone who's tried to kill a cockroach knows that the ancient pests have some world-class evasive maneuvers. Or at least they appear to.
The agility of cockroaches may owe less to lightning-fast reflexes and fancy footwork than their tough, shock-absorbent bodies. According to a new study, American cockroaches can run full-speed into walls and other obstacles because their exoskeletons allow them to recover quickly with hardly any loss in momentum.
"Their bodies are doing the computing, not their brains or complex sensors," said Kaushik Jayaram, a biologist at Harvard University and lead author of the study, which was published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface.
The findings -which were further validated by a tiny, cockroach-sized robot - could influence the design of the next generation of robots that run, jump and fly.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 15 2018, @09:07AM (4 children)
Cock-a-rooches.... always seem to get into the kitchen, to be discovered when doing a frig raid.
You know those things are covered with infrared sensors... they see you preparing to stomp and they skedaddle under impossible little cracks.
Tip... hold a large mouthed cup or jar over them and slowly lower. The thing won't see your hand's infrared signature, as the jar/cup is shielding your infrared emissions from it. Once you have the thing trapped, you can then use a sheet of thin cardboard, slip under the jar, and carry the trapped critter outside, or to the toilet.
Should you choose the toilet, be sure to squirt a little hand soap in the bowl to mess up the surface tension. Put some on the bug too for guaranteed result of bye bye bug. Those things crawl right out of toilet bowls if you don't soap 'em.
Offtopic as hell, but I am sharing how I deal with those pesky bugs.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 15 2018, @09:11AM (1 child)
So what you are saying, if I read it right, is that when the boffins design the mini-robots to attack us in our own domiciles, all we need to fight back is a glass jar, cardboard, and some washing-up fluid? Was not this already covered in "The Fifth Element", but all we need is a shoe, and a Fifth Element?
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday February 15 2018, @03:46PM
Much simpler and less likely to fail. Make sure to clean up the mess afterward with a clorox wipe or something, too.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 15 2018, @06:36PM
supposedly they can eat anything "man-made" but normally cock-a-roach (and ants) only do what
they are supposed to do:"clean up".
i get them if i get careless in the kitchen.
the little cleaning nano bots are totally giving romba a run for the money: free and self-multiplying.
anyways, after cleaning up the careless-ness around them critters, they mostly disappear after 30 min
to some other place that needs cleaning (*).
as for cock-a-roach, they feel most at home under fallen leaves. their "poop" is like a micro sponge and really good at giving
"clay" soil more water retaining capabilities.
thus it is recommended to pile fallen leaves in a dark, dampish corner of the garden and populate with cock-a-roaches.
in 3-6 month the top part of piled fallen leaves can be removed and the micro-sponges can be mixed with regular dirt
for most excellent spongy salad food.
(*) it is most ev1l to entice them to your home by being messy and then killing them with poison!
they are doing what nature (or god, if you believe in such things) intended them to be doing!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 15 2018, @07:38PM
My house contains:
1. the ensign wasp, Evania appendigaster, which is a parasite of cockroach egg cases
2. wolf spiders, sometimes reaching 2 inches in diameter counting the legs
3. large ants (they seem to defend food or hiding places from cockroaches)
4. the occasional lizard or frog
I need to add snakes, scorpions, and centipedes. Compatibility is a concern; some predators might eat each other.