Next time you see a rat scurrying across the room, beware, it might not be as innocent as it seems. It could be a remotely operated robo-rat working for an intelligence agency.
Scientists have trained rats to respond to signals from a laptop-based command center up to 500 yards away, enabling a human operator to remotely guide the robo-rats through an obstacle course. Intelligent, nimble, and inexpensive, such guided animals could be used for spying or on dangerous search-and-rescue missions.
Remote-controlled animals could take the place of human workers in performing dangerous or difficult jobs such as locating survivors in collapsed buildings or clearing fields of hidden landmines, said Sanjiv K. Talwar of the State University of New York.
Other uses might include pest control, military surveillance, and mapping of underground areas, said Talwar, who led the team of neuroscientists that developed the application.
for more see -
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/05/0501_020501_roborats.html
6 Comments
gluoniumha. they're using labview.
FletchInteresting, but it isn't really "thought" control as some may assume. I mean, the rat doesn't think "I think I'll turn left now". He just feels a tug on the left whisker (or whatever sensation it produces) and he has learned that turning left when he senses that tug feels really good. Not dissing it or anything, as the science necessary to tune into the specific pathways and manipulate those sensations in a rodent brain is pretty incredible, but I could get the same results from Fido with a doggie whistle and a remote-controlled bacon dispenser.
bamdrewExcellent point, Fletch.
Dr. Jose M. R. Delgado used this same technique in 1965 (seriously) to direct a bull away from charging at him. A considerably more dynamic demonstration, if you ask me.
(nytimes article from may 17th, 1965)
http://www.wireheading.com/matador.html
... and everyone uses labview, gluonium. and matlab... oooh matlab...
antThat looks like a Borg rat.
jonny*dead
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