OT: Here come the ratbots!

Ok, who wants a remote control rat? Go on Ratty... get my b33r!!

Guided rats - so-called ratbots - controlled through implants in their brains could one day be used to search for landmines or buried victims of earthquakes, scientists say. The extraordinary experiment involves researchers steering five rats through an obstacle course by remote control. Writing in the journal Nature, they say the ratbots could reach places inaccessible to humans or machines. The researchers are led by Dr Sanjiv Talwar of the State University of New York.

Electrodes were implanted into areas of the rat brain responsible for sensing reward as well as those that process signals from their whiskers. The commands and rewards were transmitted by radio from a laptop computer to a backpack receiver strapped to each rat.

The scientists were able to make the rats run, turn, jump and climb where they wanted from distances of up to 500 metres (1640 feet) away. The ratbots negotiated an obstacle course which involved climbing a vertical ladder, running along a narrow ledge, hopping down a flight of steps, squeezing through a hoop and descending a steep ramp. The scientists say, "Our rats were easily guided through pipes and across elevated runways and ledges, and could be instructed to climb, or jump from, any surface that offered sufficient purchase."

News source: BBC i