I, for one, welcome our... goldfish overlords?

January 4, 2022 5:38 PM

We trained goldfish to drive a wheeled platform that reacts to the fish’s movement (Twitter link)
posted by Cozybee (31 comments total)

Two fish are in a tank. One says to the other, "How do you drive this thing?"
posted by zeptoweasel at 5:51 PM on January 4, 2022 [12 favorites]

Nothing Survival Research Laboratories wasn't doing forty years ago, kids (though with six legged robots and a guinea pig named Stu).
posted by halliburtron at 5:57 PM on January 4, 2022 [9 favorites]

Next thing we'll need bike AND fish lanes on all roads. Where will it end?
posted by greenhornet at 6:06 PM on January 4, 2022 [2 favorites]

I beg to differ: in the original study, the authors are quite clear that what they're trying to get at is whether or not fish have the ability to learn how to operate in a terrestrial environment, which we already know guinea pigs can do:

Navigation is a critical ability for animal survival and is important for food foraging, finding shelter, seeking mates and a variety of other behaviors. Given their fundamental role and universal function in the animal kingdom, it makes sense to explore whether space representation and navigation mechanisms are dependent on the species, ecological system, brain structures, or whether they share general and universal properties. One way to explore this issue behaviorally is by domain transfer methodology, where one species is embedded in another species’ environment and must cope with an otherwise familiar (in our case, navigation) task. Here we push this idea to the limit by studying the navigation ability of a fish in a terrestrial environment.

This is pure comparative animal cognition in the most delightful way. Ordinarily, I get mildly eye-rolly about animal cognition because I'm interested in animal behavior and communication in naturalistic contexts, and 95% of the time when I interact with animal cog folks it's people trying to build a little mouse or rat replica of some human phenomenon so that they can use it as a model to study humans with less in the way of ethical constraint. This, though--this is pure blue-sky behavior work in a really interesting way!
posted by sciatrix at 6:11 PM on January 4, 2022 [15 favorites]

I feel like this was a Far Side comic at some point
posted by brand-gnu at 6:24 PM on January 4, 2022 [3 favorites]

What do you call Esox lucius on one of these platforms as it rounds a corner?

A turnpike.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:32 PM on January 4, 2022 [7 favorites]

From the paper: To further explore fish navigational skills, we challenged the fish with several control sessions in which we manipulated the environmental settings to explore different skills or strategies.

This had to be just as fun to write as it is to read.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:39 PM on January 4, 2022 [2 favorites]

Watching a fish drive down the street was the best part of my day
posted by not_the_water at 7:02 PM on January 4, 2022 [8 favorites]

Does cheddar get better milage?
posted by clavdivs at 7:15 PM on January 4, 2022 [1 favorite]

This related version (the Abovemarine) by Adam Ben-Dror is rather cute also, as fish motorized vehicles go.
posted by recklessbrother at 7:18 PM on January 4, 2022

This is the building blocks of the reverse scuba suit.
posted by bleep at 8:30 PM on January 4, 2022

what they're trying to get at is whether or not fish have the ability to learn how to operate in a terrestrial environment, which we already know guinea pigs can do

Yes, but can a guinea pig on a cute little treadmill navigate a submarine? Maybe around the wreck of the Titanic?
posted by polecat at 8:30 PM on January 4, 2022 [2 favorites]

Surely the Far Side did it first?

no?
posted by DeepSeaHaggis at 9:19 PM on January 4, 2022 [3 favorites]

This is great! We need to be prepared to be good hosts, no matter what kind of alien visits us.
posted by amtho at 11:21 PM on January 4, 2022

"A selected sample of humans, when suitably equipped and immersed in a tanked aquatic environment, were observed to be capable of chasing after sporadically introduced deliveries of flaked food. They were also seen to shelter in plastic Spanish galleon replicas and to blow bubbles. Memory capabilities could not be accurately determined but were assumed as minimal."
posted by rongorongo at 11:54 PM on January 4, 2022 [1 favorite]

My version of this post from 2006.

I hope the tech has improved and I eagerly await the 2038 update.
posted by pompomtom at 3:01 AM on January 5, 2022

...though somewhat less concerned about welcoming our new goldfish overlords just now.
posted by pompomtom at 3:06 AM on January 5, 2022

Zeptoweasel thank you for the best laugh I've had in months, I don't really know why but I laughed so much I snorted and then I laughed because I snorted then I snorted because I laughed and... it was glorious pandemonium for a solid two minutes. I finally managed to read the joke to hubby and he said... "I don't get it." But then he was infantry, so.
posted by evilmomlady at 4:35 AM on January 5, 2022 [4 favorites]

Just don't expect them to remember where they parked.
posted by cheshyre at 5:07 AM on January 5, 2022 [2 favorites]

The falling-dominos meme, but it starts with us putting golfish in a robot tank and ends with Neo bursting out of his gel pod in the first Matrix movie.
posted by mhoye at 5:57 AM on January 5, 2022

This reminds me of this post (from 2014, Jesus) about the fish playing Street Fighter; what a glorious and heady few days that was (disclaimer: that post was made by my spouse but it still owned).
posted by an octopus IRL at 6:11 AM on January 5, 2022

Ok, now do a guinea pig in a submersible!!!
posted by tiny frying pan at 6:42 AM on January 5, 2022

I keep watching the video to see


REWARD!
posted by eckeric at 7:32 AM on January 5, 2022

...though somewhat less concerned about welcoming our new goldfish overlords just now.

Yeah, our old goldfish overlords might have something to say about that.

If they remember to.
posted by tspae at 9:30 AM on January 5, 2022

Time for Uplift season by Brin. If goldfish are doing this then the dolphin are ready to roll.
posted by infini at 10:07 AM on January 5, 2022 [1 favorite]

Guild Navigator beta testing.
posted by youthenrage at 10:38 AM on January 5, 2022 [1 favorite]

Megamind :: Minion - Profile
posted by cenoxo at 2:19 PM on January 5, 2022

But I mean, what about teaching ants to ride Seadoos?
posted by Snowishberlin at 3:00 PM on January 5, 2022 [1 favorite]

Am I using this as an opportunity to once again repost the John Finnemore skit about the goldfish visiting King Neptune? Yes, yes I am.
posted by Lexica at 5:45 PM on January 5, 2022

zeptoweasel, I've always told it with the "you man the gun, I'll drive!" punchline.
posted by Grither at 6:05 AM on January 6, 2022 [1 favorite]

"2022: Musk's bold new autopilot system for Teslas"
posted by sebastienbailard at 9:25 AM on January 6, 2022 [1 favorite]