The distinctive chirps of singing cicadas are a highlight of summer in regions where they proliferate; those chirps even featured prominently on Lorde's 2021 album Solar Power . Now, Japanese scientists at the University of Tsukuba have figured out how to transform cicadas into cyborg insects capable of "playing" Pachelbel's Canon . They described their work in a preprint published on the physics arXiv. You can listen to the sounds here .

Scientists have been intrigued by the potential of cyborg insects since the 1990s, when researchers began implanting tiny electrodes into cockroach antennae and shocking them to direct their movements. The idea was to use them as hybrid robots for search-and-rescue applications.

For instance, in 2015, Texas A&M scientists found that implanting electrodes into a cockroach's ganglion (the neuron cluster that controls its front legs) was remarkably effective at successfully steering the roaches 60 percent of the time. They outfitted the roaches with tiny backpacks synced with a remote controller and administered shocks to disrupt the insect's balance, forcing it to move in the desired direction

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The distinctive chirps of singing cicadas are a highlight of summer in regions where they proliferate; those chirps even featured prominently on Lorde's 2021 album Solar Power . Now, Japanese scientists at the University of Tsukuba have figured out how to transform cicadas into cyborg insects capable of "playing" Pachelbel's Canon . They described their work in a preprint published on the physics arXiv. You can listen to the sounds here .

Scientists have been intrigued by the potential of cyborg insects since the 1990s, when researchers began implanting tiny electrodes into cockroach antennae and shocking them to direct their movements. The idea was to use them as hybrid robots for search-and-rescue applications.

For instance, in 2015, Texas A&M scientists found that implanting electrodes into a cockroach's ganglion (the neuron cluster that controls its front legs) was remarkably effective at successfully steering the roaches 60 percent of the time. They outfitted the roaches with tiny backpacks synced with a remote controller and administered shocks to disrupt the insect's balance, forcing it to move in the desired direction

Read full article

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The distinctive chirps of singing cicadas are a highlight of summer in regions where they proliferate; those chirps even featured prominently on Lorde's 2021 album Solar Power . Now, Japanese scientists at the University of Tsukuba have figured out how to transform cicadas into cyborg insects capable of "playing" Pachelbel's Canon . They described their work in a preprint published on the physics arXiv. You can listen to the sounds here .

Scientists have been intrigued by the potential of cyborg insects since the 1990s, when researchers began implanting tiny electrodes into cockroach antennae and shocking them to direct their movements. The idea was to use them as hybrid robots for search-and-rescue applications.

For instance, in 2015, Texas A&M scientists found that implanting electrodes into a cockroach's ganglion (the neuron cluster that controls its front legs) was remarkably effective at successfully steering the roaches 60 percent of the time. They outfitted the roaches with tiny backpacks synced with a remote controller and administered shocks to disrupt the insect's balance, forcing it to move in the desired direction

Read full article

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President Donald Trump escalated his attack on NPR and PBS on Thursday when he signed an executive order demanding the end of all federal funding supporting the news outlets.

In his order, Trump claimed that unlike in the 1960s, when the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) was funded to ensure Americans had access to critical news, there are plenty of news options today. He has joined other Republicans accusing NPR and PBS of promoting a left-leaning bias. In a White House statement , he ordered any agency directly or indirectly funding the outlets' allegedly "woke propaganda" to "end the madness" as soon as possible, cutting off current funding "to the maximum extent allowed by law" and declining "to provide future funding."

Trump's authority to cut off CPB's funding continues to be disputed. In March, his administration reportedly planned to direct Congress to rescind CPB funding—as both NPR and PBS are fully funded through 2027 —but according to PBS , budget director Russell Vought has yet to send over any guidance.

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President Donald Trump escalated his attack on NPR and PBS on Thursday when he signed an executive order demanding the end of all federal funding supporting the news outlets.

In his order, Trump claimed that unlike in the 1960s, when the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) was funded to ensure Americans had access to critical news, there are plenty of news options today. He has joined other Republicans accusing NPR and PBS of promoting a left-leaning bias. In a White House statement , he ordered any agency directly or indirectly funding the outlets' allegedly "woke propaganda" to "end the madness" as soon as possible, cutting off current funding "to the maximum extent allowed by law" and declining "to provide future funding."

Trump's authority to cut off CPB's funding continues to be disputed. In March, his administration reportedly planned to direct Congress to rescind CPB funding—as both NPR and PBS are fully funded through 2027 —but according to PBS , budget director Russell Vought has yet to send over any guidance.

Read full article

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President Donald Trump escalated his attack on NPR and PBS on Thursday when he signed an executive order demanding the end of all federal funding supporting the news outlets.

In his order, Trump claimed that unlike in the 1960s, when the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) was funded to ensure Americans had access to critical news, there are plenty of news options today. He has joined other Republicans accusing NPR and PBS of promoting a left-leaning bias. In a White House statement , he ordered any agency directly or indirectly funding the outlets' allegedly "woke propaganda" to "end the madness" as soon as possible, cutting off current funding "to the maximum extent allowed by law" and declining "to provide future funding."

Trump's authority to cut off CPB's funding continues to be disputed. In March, his administration reportedly planned to direct Congress to rescind CPB funding—as both NPR and PBS are fully funded through 2027 —but according to PBS , budget director Russell Vought has yet to send over any guidance.

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Have you ever pulled an all-nighter because of anxiety? Found yourself doomscrolling on your phone when you should have gone to bed hours ago? Purposely downed too many cups of coffee at three in the morning? There are some insomniac flies who would like a word.

It appears that fruit flies that spend their days lazily buzzing through the lush orchards and rainforests of Queensland, Australia, live in paradise. That changes at sunset. After dark, the flies are plagued by the Gamasodesqueenslandicus mites, which can attach themselves like ticks and literally eat the flies alive in their sleep. Researchers led by University of Cincinnati biologist Joshua Benoit have now discovered that flies that have had enough of the mites will stay awake at the expense of their health.

These mite-resistant flies drain their nutrient reserves to stay up all night, making them more susceptible to starvation. Insomniacs consumed more oxygen and were generally more active than non-resistant flies; they also experienced changes in gene activity related to their metabolisms.

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Have you ever pulled an all-nighter because of anxiety? Found yourself doomscrolling on your phone when you should have gone to bed hours ago? Purposely downed too many cups of coffee at three in the morning? There are some insomniac flies who would like a word.

It appears that fruit flies that spend their days lazily buzzing through the lush orchards and rainforests of Queensland, Australia, live in paradise. That changes at sunset. After dark, the flies are plagued by the Gamasodesqueenslandicus mites, which can attach themselves like ticks and literally eat the flies alive in their sleep. Researchers led by University of Cincinnati biologist Joshua Benoit have now discovered that flies that have had enough of the mites will stay awake at the expense of their health.

These mite-resistant flies drain their nutrient reserves to stay up all night, making them more susceptible to starvation. Insomniacs consumed more oxygen and were generally more active than non-resistant flies; they also experienced changes in gene activity related to their metabolisms.

Read full article

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Have you ever pulled an all-nighter because of anxiety? Found yourself doomscrolling on your phone when you should have gone to bed hours ago? Purposely downed too many cups of coffee at three in the morning? There are some insomniac flies who would like a word.

It appears that fruit flies that spend their days lazily buzzing through the lush orchards and rainforests of Queensland, Australia, live in paradise. That changes at sunset. After dark, the flies are plagued by the Gamasodesqueenslandicus mites, which can attach themselves like ticks and literally eat the flies alive in their sleep. Researchers led by University of Cincinnati biologist Joshua Benoit have now discovered that flies that have had enough of the mites will stay awake at the expense of their health.

These mite-resistant flies drain their nutrient reserves to stay up all night, making them more susceptible to starvation. Insomniacs consumed more oxygen and were generally more active than non-resistant flies; they also experienced changes in gene activity related to their metabolisms.

Read full article

Comments