Introducing ... Ratbot!

May 1, 2002 2:16 PM

Introducing ... Ratbot! Leave it to the good folks at SUNY to come up with a remote-controlled rat. Best of all: "If the rat correctly followed the cue and turned left, its reward-centre was stimulated, filling the rat with a feeling of well-being."
posted by risenc (8 comments total)

From the image at the top of the page - "The rat is instructed which way to move by the technology contained in its brain."

Heh, indeed.

Is this the opposite of being blinded by science?
posted by bshort at 2:39 PM on May 1, 2002

"The idea is kind of creepy."

Best . . . pullquote . . . ever!
posted by feckless at 2:57 PM on May 1, 2002

turning left. turning left... turning...turning...
posted by quonsar at 3:50 PM on May 1, 2002

FYI: "To date, more than 3 million animals worldwide have been succesfully implanted with an implantable transponder," so their whereabouts can be monitored in case of UFO abduction.
posted by sheauga at 5:22 PM on May 1, 2002

Leave it to the good folks at SUNY

Why? Are they known as rat people or something?
posted by HTuttle at 9:14 PM on May 1, 2002

heh, I have almost always been a SUNY student at one of their colleges or another. This just seems appropriate somehow.. slashed funding, mean looks from Pataki, and rat well-being.
posted by xyzzy at 9:31 PM on May 1, 2002

If anyone would like a little more detail, here is a link to the researchers' letter itself:

'Rat navigation guided by remote control' by Sanjiv K Talwar et al (PDF)
posted by Owen Boswarva at 7:23 AM on May 2, 2002

This reminded me of an article I saw in 97 about robo-roaches.
posted by sailormouth at 7:53 AM on May 2, 2002