Cockroaches

While some cockroaches can be gross pests, some are becoming research muses for search-and-rescue robots and possibly solving world hunger. 

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Transcript

Opening

Welcome everyone to another episode of 8 minutes of Eww! The place where we use curiosity and science to turn fear into fascination and those ewww’s into Oooh’s. Oh! By the way, I’m your host Ms. Mallory, the Curious Conservationist, and self-proclaimed grosslologist. Let’s get started.

Intro

Today We Are Going To Talk About An Insect That Can Hold Its Breath For 40 Minutes, Run At Speeds Around 3 Miles Per Hour, Survive Up To 10 Times The Amount Of Radiation That Humans Can, And Have Been Around As Long As The Dinosaurs. Any Guesses?  

Cockroaches!

Now I Know It’s Easy To Hate On These Creeper Crawlers.They Skitter And Scurry. They’re Disgusting, Disturbing And Seemingly Indestructible. And If You’re Thinking This Episode  Might Be Too Gross To Handle, Just Give Me 8 Minutes

There Are Well Over 4,500 Different Species Of Cockroaches. And They Are Found All Over The World Except Antarctica. Good News Is Only About 1% Of All The Species Are Considered Pests To Humans, The Bad News: They Are The Ones That Love To Lurk In Our Homes And Restaurants. Thankfully, The Other 99% Live Peacefully Outdoors Munching On Decaying Leaf Litter And Benefiting Humans Instead Of Annoying Them. Did You Know If We Were Cockroaches,  We Could Survive By Eating About Once Every Month And Drinking Few Drops Of Water Once Every 2 Weeks?  I Can Barely Go A Few Hours Without Getting Hungry. 

And Sure, Cockroaches Can Be Gross, But There Are So Many Amazing Facts About These Insects That Make Them Very Interesting.

For Instance, Have You Ever Heard The Phrase, “Don’t Go Losing Your Head” When Someone Is Encouraging You To Keep Your Cool? Of Course, They Don’t Literally Think You’re Going To Lose Your Head, That’s Not Something We As Humans Have Evolved To Do, But A Cockroach On The Other Hand Can Survive An Entire Week Without A Head Since They Don't Need A Mouth To Breathe. Like Other Insects, Cockroaches Don’t Have Lungs. Instead they breathe through A Network Of Tubes, Called Tracheae (Tray- Key-Ee). They Pull In Air Through Holes— called spiracles— that are located on their Sides. In Some Species, Like The Madagascar Hissing Cockroach, The Creature Can Control The Amount Of Air Passing Through The Spiracles And Produce A Loud Hissing Sound To Deter Predators Or Attract A Mate. Loudest Hisser Gets The Girl. 

And Get This, The Way They Breathe Isn’t Their Only Oddity. . Their Bff Is a Special Bacteria That gets  Passed Down From Mother Roach To Baby Roach.  These Beneficial Bacteria Live Within Special Cells Of The Cockroach. In Exchange For Living A Life Of Relative Comfort Inside The Cockroach's Fatty Tissue, Bacterial Bff’s Manufactures all the good stuff The Cockroach Needs To Live. 

Speaking of mother roaches. There is a very special mother roach in Hawaii, known as the Pacific Beetle Cockroach. While most insects lay eggs, this momma incubates her eggs inside her body and gives live birth. Even more amazing is the fact that this cockroach provides her wee ones with a nutritious, milk-like substance much as mammal mothers do. 

Scientists that are studying this roach milk found out it is surprisingly similar to the cow milk you put in your cereal. The milk created by the insect packs quite the protein punch and possesses three times the calories as buffalo milk, which is much higher than cow milk, and it’s jampacked with tons of essential nutrients to grow big and strong. .  And the best part, it won’t spoil or require refrigeration. 

Move over, Ms. Cow. Hello, Ms. Cockroach.

Topic 4: Eating Bugs

Even if you were convinced to have some cockroach milk with your cereal. . .Would you be willing to have cockroaches for lunch? 

Many people in tropical locations enjoy eating insects by either deep frying them or roasting them on a stick. Cockroach kabobs, anyone?  While you may gag at the thought, many countries indulge in these nutrient-rich, 6-legged power snacks. Sure it may sound gross, but rest assured knowing that they are considered to be rather healthy when prepared properly. 

Still not convinced bugs will be on your menu anytime soon?  Well, chances are they already have been. . .

Topic 5: USDA 

The chance that you have already eaten a cockroach— or at least parts of them— in your lifetime are pretty high. 

Not on purpose, of course. 

Studies would suggest that the delicious chocolate bar, cheese, peanut butter, popcorn, or other snacks we all know and love may have trace portions of this insect in them. Gross right? Or delicious? I just think of it as extra protein.

The Agency That Regulates Our Food (Known As Food And Drug Administration, Or Fda), Allows Heads, Legs And Other Fragments Of Insects To Be Processed With Our Foods. Maggot Parts Can Be Found In Canned Tomato And Fruit Products, Mites In Mushrooms, Insect Heads In Fig Paste. .  You Get The Point.  If You Have Eaten Anything Out Of a Package, You Probably Have Consumed A Bug In Some Way.  If That Freaks You, Then You May Want To Skip The Chips And Go For A Piece Of Fruit Next Time You Want A Snack. 

Now if eating roaches may not be your thing, maybe getting rescued by a roachbot may be easier to swallow. 

One Harvard Study Looked At The Cockroach’s climbing capabilities and was inspired to Build Better Search-And-Rescue Robots. By watching the roaches use their flexible exoskeleton and spiny legs to climb a wall, Engineers Hope To Create Search And Rescue Robot That Can Squeeze Into Tight Locations And Scurry Across Mounds Of Rubble Much Faster Than Human Rescue Teams 

Could.  

We are also learning a thing or two about balance from these daring, drain acrobats.  Another group of scientists found that cockroaches balance themselves without using their brains as if their legs had a mind of their own. As science learns more, we could make robots that don’t walk so . . .well, robotically or tip over if they get unbalanced.  Or, better yet, we could make prosthetics— or fake body parts—that could think on their own and work almost as if it was the person’s real body part.  

Outro

Well, my aspiring grossologists, my 8 minutes are about up.  Did you learn something new about cockroaches?  I hope you did. And although some are truly gross and pester humans, most are not and help humans a lot. Not only are we learning from them, but they help us break down all our waste and put nutrients back into the soil. They’re also a crucial part of the food web, providing nourishment for other animals like lizards, birds (clears throat) humans.  Haha. Jk. I’ll let you decide on that one. 

Thanks again for joining me and don’t forget to subscribe and set those notifications, so you don’t miss the next 8 minutes of Eww. Until next time, this is Ms. Mallory inviting you to Step Outside & Adventure.