Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News
· collected 2026-08-26 · by Angus Dalton
If you ever find yourself buried beneath the rubble of an earthquake’s aftermath or expiring in a remote cave, salvation may not arrive in the form of a dashing rescuer or detection dog, but of a hulking, hissing, spiky-legged cockroach.
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salvation → find → cockroach
Scientists are developing cyborg paramedic cockroaches designed to find people trapped in places human rescuers can’t reach, with the latest recruits capable of delivering medicine by firing syringes from a harpoon system on their backs.
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recruits → develop → backs
The “paraborg” (a portmanteau of paramedic and cyborg) insects are made from giant burrowing cockroaches, which are the world’s heaviest cockroach species and native to north Queensland.
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which → make → Queensland
“It’s not for everyone,” biorobotics specialist and cyborg creator Dr T. Thang Vo-Doan, from the University of Queensland, said of working with the cockroaches.
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Doan → ’ → cockroaches
“But we have very good relationship with them in the lab.”
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we → have → lab
The glossy arthropods are fashioned into cyborgs by the insertion of electrodes into their antennae, so the cockroaches can be remote-controlled with a joystick.
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cockroaches → fashion → joystick
Antennae detect obstacles, so when the left one is stimulated, the cockroaches bear right, and vice versa.
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cockroaches → detect → obstacles
Other electrodes in the “cerci” – sensory appendages at the back of the insect – allow researchers to accelerate or stop the cyborg roaches.
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researchers → allow → roaches
Scientists eventually want to make fully robotic, insect-inspired rescue devices but Vo-Doan said robots aren’t small, agile or efficient enough yet to operate in disaster zones.
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robots → want → zones
Cockroaches, however, are ready to rumble.
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Cockroaches → rumble → ?
“The insect can climb and run, even carry heavy loads in different orientations in a complex environment,” Vo-Doan said.
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Doan → climb → environment
“You already have everything from nature.
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You → have → nature
It simplifies our system a lot in terms of design and engineering.”
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It → simplify → design
He believes more lives can be saved now by harnessing the insects, with agility and efficiency honed by evolution, to carry devices including cameras and sensors into collapsed buildings.
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lives → believe → buildings
While small robots are restricted by limited battery life, cockroaches can go for days, powered simply by gum leaves and apple slices.
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cockroaches → restrict → leaves
There’s no requirement for scientists to obtain ethical approval for research with insects.
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scientists → ’ → insects
But the cockroaches are anaesthetised for the insertion of electrodes, and electronic systems are carefully removed after experiments.
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systems → anaesthetise → experiments
Vo-Doan said the cyborg recruits seem to live as long and well as their civilian counterparts.
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recruits → say → counterparts
The latest study, published in Advanced Science, focused on the “rescue” part of search and rescue.
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study → publish → search
If a swarm of cyborg cockroaches discovered a victim buried beneath rubble who was suffering from sepsis, what happens next?
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what → discover → sepsis
The researchers created and tested needle-firing cyborgs and showed they could successfully navigate to a target and deliver a jab in 72 per cent of proof-of-concept trials.
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they → create → trials
When cockroaches came within 15 centimetres of a mock target, the hit rate was 95 per cent.
“
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rate → come → target
A lot of people might not like the sight of a giant cockroach scurrying towards them,” said PhD candidate and first author of the research Hai Nhan Le.
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Le → like → research
“But if you’re trapped in rubble or stuck in a cave and need help, it could make a real difference between life and death.”
The idea, eventually, is to create a “fully autonomous paramedic team composed of terrestrial cyborg insects” that can independently search for victims, relay information and deliver medication, the researchers write.
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researchers → trap → medication
The concept might seem far-fetched but other international teams are taking the same approach and have been trialling it in the field.
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teams → seem → field
Ten cyborg Madagascan hissing cockroaches fitted with infrared cameras and sensors were deployed alongside Singapore’s Operation Lionheart rescue team in the aftermath of a 2025 earthquake in Myanmar that killed at least 3600 people.
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that → fit → people
(The cockroach squad didn’t detect any survivors but researchers said the mission yielded valuable lessons to improve the cyborgs.)
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mission → detect → cyborgs
Meanwhile, in June, another team of researchers introduced the aquatic class.
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team → introduce → class
They designed flexible cockroach diving suits 3D-printed from resin.
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They → design → resin
Cockroaches wearing the suits could operate underwater for three hours despite being a terrestrial species, the researchers reported in Nature.
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researchers → wear → Nature
The amphibious cyborgs could one day carry out missions in flooded areas or help explore the deep ocean – or other planets.
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cyborgs → carry → ocean
“The ultimate goal is to [take this technology to] space,” lead author Professor Hirotaka Sato told New Scientist.
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Sato → take → Scientist
“Exploration over the Mars surface, for example.”
So when might we see cyborg cockroaches rolled out to disaster zones?
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cockroaches → see → zones
Perhaps five years, perhaps 20, depending on the level of support the idea gains, Vo-Doan said.
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Doan → depend → support
Experts such as Superintendent Tim Hassiotis, from Fire & Rescue NSW, are open to the concept if the cyborgs prove effective in real emergencies.
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cyborgs → prove → emergencies
“If cyborg insects can safely enter spaces we can’t, locate casualties and ultimately help deliver emergency care, they could become another valuable tool in the future of urban search and rescue,” Hassiotis said.
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Hassiotis → enter → search
Examine, a free newsletter covering science, is sent every Tuesday.
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Examine → cover → science
