Okay, I know what you're probably thinking. We've been hearing about the use of tiny robots in medicine for years, maybe even decades. Where are my medical microbots already? They're coming, says Brad Nelson, who works in robotics at ETH Zürich. And they could be a game changer for a number of serious diseases.

Scientists have demonstrated how a live cockroach equipped with a computerised'backpack' could be steered remotely for search and rescue missions. The backpack, created by a team at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, is a small computer chip fitted with an infrared camera, carbon dioxide sensor and a temperature/humidity sensor, among other functions. In lab trials, the team fitted the backpack to a Madagascar hissing cockroach and successfully used it to find humans in a simulated disaster scene. The cockroach fitted with the backpack also had electrodes implanted in its cerci – the protruding appendages on its left and right side. Electrical currents were delivered to the two cerci via the electrodes to induce turning, allowing the scientists to control the direction it moved in.

Japanese researchers envision a future where swarms of cyborg cockroaches roam freely inside homes, carrying out a variety of small tasks. A team at the University of Tsukuba modified Madagascar cockroaches with cybernetic implants that navigate the insects up walls and across floors – places other robots have difficult accessing. Called'Calmbots,' the cockroaches were installed with electrodes, a chip antenna, battery and a pixel strapped to its back that can be used as a display. Researchers say the cyborgs can transport objects around the home, drawing things on paper and may one day act as an'input or haptic interfaces or an audio device. Calmbots are a project of Digital Nature Group, a department at the university, which aims to release their creations into people's homes.

The biobot developed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign couples engineered skeletal muscle tissue to a 3D printed flexible skeleton. Although robotic humanoids now perform backflips and autonomous drones fly in formation, even the most advanced robots are relatively primitive when compared with living machines. The running, jumping, swimming, and flying creatures that cover our planet's surface have long inspired engineers. Yet a subset of researchers are not just taking tips from living creatures. These roboticists, computer scientists, and bioengineers are combining artificial materials with living tissue, or making machines entirely from living cells.

Scientists at the University of Vermont and Tufts University used a supercomputer to evolve a design for tiny living robots made out of frog cells, then assembled them. The tiny new creatures did what they were supposed to do --make their way across a Petri dish. They also had some surprises for the researchers. "These are novel living machines," Joshua Bongard, a computer scientist and robotics expert at the University of Vermont who co-led the new research, said in a statement. "They're neither a traditional robot nor a known species of animal. The research results were published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The first author was UVM doctoral student Sam Kriegman. The new "biobots" were designed on the Deep Green supercomputer cluster at UVM's Vermont Advanced Computing Core. Bongard said that in 100 runs, the supercomputer considered billions of designs, looking for a design for a creature that would travel across the bottom of a Petri dish as quickly as possible. "The design we built wasn't imagined by a human.

Fox News Flash top headlines for Sept. 17 are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com Researchers have developed soft robotic devices that are driven by neuromuscular tissue that gets triggered when stimulated by light. Their work, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, brings the field of mechanical engineering one step closer to creating autonomous biobots. The researchers were able to demonstrate a new generation of two-tailed bots powered by skeletal muscle tissue that's been stimulated by on-board motor neurons.

Though insect-sized flying robots have been around for a while, none had been able to take untethered fight until now. Engineers at the University of Washington have revealed the RoboFly had taken its first untethered flaps, earlier this year, marking the first time a wireless flying robotic insect has flown. Now the man behind the project has revealed he hopes to have fully autonomous swarms roaming the skies within five years. RoboFly is only slightly heavier than a toothpick and is powered by an onboard circuit that converts the laser energy into enough electricity to operate its wings. Previously, the electronics the insects carried to power and control their wings were too heavy for the robots to fly with, meaning they had to remain connected to a wire.

Though insect-sized flying robots have been around for a while, none had been able to take untethered fight until now. Engineers at the University of Washington have revealed the RoboFly had taken its first untethered flaps, earlier this year, marking the first time a wireless flying robotic insect has flown. Now the man behind the project has revealed he hopes to have fully autonomous swarms roaming the skies within five years. RoboFly is only slightly heavier than a toothpick and is powered by an onboard circuit that converts the laser energy into enough electricity to operate its wings. Previously, the electronics the insects carried to power and control their wings were too heavy for the robots to fly with, meaning they had to remain connected to a wire.

The robot, modelled on the mythical centaur, has been developed by researchers at the IIT-Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Italian Institute of Technology), in the hope that it may one day play a vital role in disaster relief efforts. Like the fabled creature, it has a humanoid-like upper section with two arms able to manipulate and move objects, while the quadrupedal lower half is capable of robust locomotion on uneven terrain. Standing 1.5 metres tall and weighing in at 93 kgs, the anthropomorphic Centauro is designed to work in man-made environments and manipulate human tools, though with much greater strength. Its hybrid system combines legged and wheeled mobility, enabling it to navigate in a range of environments. This includes typical human infrastructures, narrow doors and corridors, and even stairs.

It's time to catch up on recent news from the Boston-area tech sector, including a pair of acquisitions; investments in digital health, artificial intelligence, and wastewater analytics; and scenes from this year's "Star Wars"-themed NEVY Awards. LogoMix CEO and founder Craig Bloem previously co-founded Performable, a Boston-area marketing automation startup sold to HubSpot (NYSE: HUBS) in 2011. Financial terms weren't disclosed, but a spokesperson said Hiptest's 15 employees will be joining SmartBear. Private equity firm Francisco Partners acquired a majority stake in SmartBear last year; a source told Xconomy the deal had an enterprise value of $410 million. SmartBear is currently profitable and generating more than $100 million in annual revenue, the spokesperson said.