Remotely Controlled Rats

[John]

I'm sure most of you have heard and/or read the story by now, as it's been out for several months, but I still find it intriguing. I'm wondering what you all think about this development, and its implications. Perhaps this would be better placed in the ethics forum, however.

 

For those of you who haven't learned about the technique of controlling rats by remote, check out this article:

 

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/05/0501_020501_roborats.html

[aman]

Sounds like it has a lot of military potential if they can boost the range. I'd like to see a rat shit in saddams coffee. Who'd notice an extra rat in Bahgdad.:uhh: :uhh:

The humanitaian potential is great for disasters I hope we never have.

Just aman

[YoungStrife]

It's not a remote controlled rat, but a fully automated device programmed to find the center of a maze, correct?

 

I saw one of those on discover channel...it reached the target faster then the rat,,,I guess this is because the rat tried to find the cheese, not simply solve the maze.

[Skye]

It's a rat that you can remotely make turn left or right.

 

"The researchers first threaded three wires as narrow as human hairs into each rats brain and attached them to a microprocessor slung on the rats back like a backpack. Two wires served to deliver electrical cues—one each to the brain cells associated with the rats left and right whiskers, respectively. A third wire doled out rewards to a separate area of the brain.

 

Then a member of the scientific team, using a laptop computer, remotely stimulated the microprocessor to send an electrical signal through one cue wire or the other. The rat "felt" a touch to the corresponding set of whiskers, as though it had come in contact with an obstacle.

 

If the rat responded by turning in the desired direction, the controller encouraged the animal with a brief electrical pulse to its brain's reward center. The rat would feel a sensation of pleasure."