{"id":193351,"date":"2021-03-03T20:41:45","date_gmt":"2021-03-03T17:41:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/scientists-built-a-robot-that-can-hear-through-a-dead-locusts-ear\/"},"modified":"2021-03-03T20:41:45","modified_gmt":"2021-03-03T17:41:45","slug":"scientists-built-a-robot-that-can-hear-through-a-dead-locusts-ear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/scientists-built-a-robot-that-can-hear-through-a-dead-locusts-ear\/","title":{"rendered":"#Scientists built a robot that can hear through a dead locust\u2019s ear"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Scientists built a robot that can hear through a dead locust\u2019s ear<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n A team of scientists from Tel-Aviv University have successfully given a robot the ability to hear sounds through the use of a dead locust\u2019s ear.<\/p>\n

What? <\/b>Seriously. A university press release<\/a> highlighting the team\u2019s work had this to say:<\/span><\/p>\n

Researchers at Tel Aviv University report that they have successfully connected the ear of a dead locust to a robot that receives the ear\u2019s electrical signals and responds accordingly. The result is extraordinary: When the researchers clap once, the locust\u2019s ear hears the sound and the robot moves forward; when the researchers clap twice, the robot moves backwards.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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<\/a>Credit: Tel-Aviv University<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How\u2019s it work? <\/b>It\u2019s actually pretty simple. The researchers use the dead locust\u2019s ear in the exact same way they\u2019d typically use a microphone. Instead of wiring up a human-made electronic device, the team just wires up Mother Nature\u2019s work in a similar fashion. <\/span><\/p>\n

According to team lead Ben Maoz:<\/span><\/p>\n

Prof. Yovel\u2019s laboratory built the robot and developed code that enables the robot to respond to electrical auditory signals. And my laboratory has developed a special device \u2014 Ear-on-a-Chip \u2014 that allows the ear to be kept alive throughout the experiment by supplying oxygen and food to the organ, while allowing the electrical signals to be taken out of the locust\u2019s ear and amplified and transmitted to the robot.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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<\/a>Credit: Tel-Aviv University<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Quick take: <\/b>This is pretty rad. We\u2019ve seen scientists create some strange and wonderful cyborgs by combining insect biology with robotics before. Just check out this 2017 article about a team of researchers who developed a method by which to control living dragonflies remotely like drones. <\/span><\/p>\n

But this new locust-cyborg research is amazing in its own right because, rather than control the motor functions of a living creature, it demonstrates how AI can harvest existing biological technology<\/a> in a piecemeal fashion to create a functioning machine a la carte.<\/span><\/p>\n

Necromancy? In this economy??<\/b> Actually, it\u2019s hard to imagine a more cost-effective way to build a robot army than to design inexpensive systems that could, for example, be para-dropped into a given geographical location with the ability to scavenge their own body parts. How terrifying is that?<\/span><\/p>\n

You can read the whole paper here<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n Published March 3, 2021 \u2014 17:41 UTC<\/p><\/div>\n