Cyborg crickets could chirp at the smell of survivors

IF YOU’RE trapped under rubble after an earthquake, wondering if you’ll see daylight again, the last thing you need is an insect buzzing around your face. But that insect could save your life, if a scheme funded by the Pentagon comes off.

The project aims to co-opt the way some insects communicate to give early warning of chemical attacks on the battlefield – the equivalent of the “canary in a coal mine”. The researchers behind it say the technology could be put…