MEDTECH

Imagine you are trapped under rubble after an earthquake and you see an electronics-covered cockroach with a spring-loaded needle on its back scuttling toward you. Although the sight might be unnerving, to say the least, this prototype paramedic cyborg, or “Paraborg,” might one day help deliver lifesaving aid to disaster victims who might be otherwise impossible to reach, writes CHARLES Q. The Hardest Problems in Robotics For decades, scientists have sought to develop cyborg insects as “a shortcut around some of the hardest problems in robotics,” says director of the...