In Kingdom of Cockroaches, Leaders Are Made, Not Born

t might seem counterintuitive - or, let's face it, silly - for scientists to create an artificial cockroach. Nature has, after all, given us so many of them, and considerable energies of humankind have been focused on exterminating them.

But an international team of scientists has done just that.

The purpose of the matchbox-size robo-roach is to study "collective intelligence," said Jos� Halloy, senior research scientist at the Free University of Brussels, one of the institutions collaborating on the project. Roaches, ants, bees and many other creatures are gregarious and share a kind of mob intellect, he said.