Backyard Brains, a “neurological education and outreach company,” is raising money on Kickstarter for RoboRoach.  The RoboRoach system allows a user to control a simple insect from an iPhone through surgically implanted electrodes. To recap: first you implant electrodes which manage the firing of neurons, then you tap on your iPhone screen to make the bug do tricks. Apparently, some people are less than enthusiastic:

Of course, when science and nature mix, the end result is usually at least a handful of detractors, and [company co-founder Greg] Gage concedes that Backyard Brains has been met with some opposition — mostly in the form of anti-mind control sentiments.  ”People have this slippery slope argument that if you were to control cockroaches, next would be dogs and then humans.”

Why are people are worried about mind control devices graduating from bugs to humans?  Probably because decades of spy movies and cartoons have told us it would very definitely happen.  Remember, Stewie Griffin figured this out over a decade ago.

Humanity will be lucky to get that far though.  Once the cyborg roaches turn on us and figure out how to use iPhones, the game is over.

(Photo: Kickstarter)