Row over US mobile phone 'cockroach backpack' app
Source: BBC
Row over US mobile phone 'cockroach backpack' app
A US company that has developed an "electronic backpack" that fits onto a cockroach allowing its movements to be controlled by a mobile phone app has defended itself against cruelty claims.
The Backyard Brains company says that the device is intended to get children to be interested in neuroscience.
A spokeswoman told the BBC that the device - being formally launched on Saturday - was not a gimmick.
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Likewise Queen's University philosophy Professor Michael Allen warned that the device will "encourage amateurs to operate invasively on living organisms" and "encourage thinking of complex living organisms as mere machines or tools".
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Read more:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24455141