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While some predict that the world will end in fire, others in ice, there are those who envision humanity's destruction through a nuclear apocalypse, leaving only cockroaches to persist. It’s a grim thought, where homo sapiens are wiped out by their own technology and the resilient insects inherit the Earth—yet, is this a possible reality or merely science fiction?
Sadly, it seems the cockroaches would triumph in this scenario. They’ve already survived a nuclear disaster: The theory of their survival began after the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with reports indicating that cockroaches were the only lifeforms seen scurrying amidst the devastation. With such evidence, it’s plausible to assume that even greater nuclear explosions might not be enough to eradicate them. But, as always, testing the theory is important, and that’s where the Mythbusters came in.
The Mythbusters team on the Discovery Channel conducted an experiment on German cockroaches to determine their radiation tolerance, and the results were astounding—far higher than what humans could endure. A month after exposure to 1000 radon units (rads) of cobalt 60—enough to kill a human in just 10 minutes—about half of the cockroaches were still alive and thriving. This was especially impressive considering the typical lifespan of insects, which is only 6 to 9 months. When the radiation dose was increased to 10,000 rads, the cockroaches still survived, with 10 percent of them remaining alive a month later. However, at 100,000 rads, even cockroaches weren’t invincible: none survived, though they did display extraordinary resistance to radiation.
Critics of the theory that cockroaches will one day dominate the planet don’t dispute the idea that these small creatures could outlive us following nuclear fallout. Their objection is that there are other insects even more resistant to radiation. Wood-boring insects, along with their eggs, can withstand exposure to up to 68,000 rads, while the common fruit fly can endure about 64,000 rads. The true champion of radiation resistance, however, is the Habrobracon, a parasitic wasp, capable of surviving up to 180,000 rads—about 200 times more than any human can tolerate.
