SciTech Talk: Cyborg insects and insect ancestors

MEGA-CLAW

For those of you Pokemon fanatics out there, entranced in their new Pokemon X and Y game and wondering if this is some kind of new monster, you are actually partially right. While obviously not a Pokemon, a large-clawed creature that has never been discovered before was recently unearthed in southwest China with its nervous system completely intact after millions of years. The physical evidence proved that the ancestors of spiders, scorpians and the like branched off from its formerly related insects, crustaceans and millipedes almost a half a billion years ago.

The nervous system was immaculately preserved, allowing scientists to solve the long standing mystery of the marine arthropod’s family tree. The neural structure had similar characteristics to those of horseshoe crabs and scorpions, suggesting that these species have lived alongside one another during the Lower Cambrian. The Cambrian is an essential period for researchers because it is when multicellular species became readily fossilized, providing a mound of physical evidence on ancestral species from hundreds of millions of years ago.

The megacheirans (“large claws” in Greek) are about three centimeters long, with scissor-like appendages on their heads. In fact, scientists have assumed before that megacheirans were related to chelicerates (spiders, scorpions etc.) due to similar appendage structure. However, the preserved nervous system provided further evidence showing very similar connection routes to the appendage.

Using computed tomography (CT) and a few other tools, a 3D model of the nervous system was built to make the nervous system more visible without damaging the specimen. Certainly enough, the model showed common features of the brain found in chelicerates, among other similarities.

It is still amazing how paleontologists and others continue to disinter new evidence every year. This really attests to the explosiveness of specialization during the Cambrian period.

CYBORG INSECTS

While this artificial insect species is not one naturally discovered by paleontologists, it is one that computer scientists have designed specifically for geographical mapping. Of course, no component of it is an actual insect — it is a cyborg, or a robot, which is attached to sensors and embedded software.

They are much less menacing than they seem. Swarms of these cyborgs are released into an area of unknown topography (for example, a collapsed building). Just like the automatic, robotic vacuums that your parents use to take some work of their shoulders, these cyborgs move around in random directions until they run into a wall. They change direction and begin to walk again.

Meanwhile, data is collected from the attached sensors. The pulsing radio waves show the presence of any other cyborg insects in the proximity. From the distance travelled before changing direction and the proximity of the robots from one another, a rough mapping of the topography is determined through an algorithm.

The software can allow for rescuers to determine the stability of collapsed buildings, or for safety officials to determine the location of certain radioactive chemical threats.