Mar 15 2018 25 mins 201
Cockroaches can survive decapitation, nuclear explosions and they save our forests. Yes, they're gross, but they're actually kinda cool!
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Sources:
"Cockroaches have been around for a very long time - since before the dinosaurs - and they have not changed very much. One can only conclude that they are doing something right!"
Evolution Saves Cockroaches From Taking The Bait:
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/05/23/186359665/evolution-saves-cockroaches-from-taking-the-bait
"Most of us are used to thinking that the evolution of living organisms takes millions of years. But in the case of cockroaches, scientists say the resilient pests have developed a fast-forward mechanism to save their own exoskeleton."
How Pesticides Pushed Cockroaches Into Rapid Evolution:
https://io9.gizmodo.com/how-pesticides-pushed-cockroaches-into-rapid-evolution-509398746
"In the 1980s, manufactures began making cockroach baits that combined sweet glucose with deadly insecticides. By 1993, many cockroach populations somehow developed an aversion to the bait. Now, 20 years later, scientists finally understand how the roaches beat these traps."
Scientists think cockroach milk could be the superfood of the future:
https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-show-why-we-should-all-start-drinking-cockroach-milk
"An international team of scientists has just sequenced a protein crystal located in the midgut of cockroaches. The reason? It’s more than four times as nutritious as cow’s milk and, the researchers think it could be the key to feeding our growing population in the future."
Cockroach Milk: Yes. You Read That Right:
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/08/06/488861223/cockroach-milk-yes-you-read-that-right
"The female Pacific beetle cockroach is one of a kind. Unlike other insect species, this Hawaiian native gives birth to live young. And she feeds them a pale, yellow liquid "milk" from her brood sack."
Sexy perfume ‘lures’ cockroaches to their doom:
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