I love science. The joy of discovery in pure research combines
with applied science to leave me fantasizing about future
technology. Add in the occasional WTF moment and the comedy
inherent in poorly prepared presentations, and you have the
perfect occupation. Unfortunately, science sometimes attracts
people who pull the wings off a cockroach, pin it on its back,
and stick electrodes inside it to use it as a mini-electricity
generator. Now, I hate cockroaches as much as anyone, and there
is a certain satisfaction in extracting revenge for all those
restless nights in rooms that, shall we say, rustled, but...
Surely there was a good reason for this? The basic goal of the
research was to see if something like a cockroach could generate
enough electricity from stored sugars to power electronic
devices. Now, instead of doing what you or I would do—set fire
to the cockroach and use the heat to generate electricity—the
researcher chose to preserve the life of the insect by employing
a redox reaction. The idea being