Remote Controlled Rats

sclatter writes: "They aren't precisely robot rats, but these little rodents can be cued to perform different actions through electrodes implanted in their brains. Could be a boon for search and rescue in collapsed buildings!" As one skeptic in the article says, though, "Without the gee-whizery, without the remote-control and so on, that this kind of thing was possible has been obvious for decades."

Comments

erm.. rat cyborg

[2MuchC0ffeeMan]

does it star in the new terminator 3 movie coming out?

Okay I get it...

[keep_it_simple_stupi]

but did they really have to use rats? I mean, it's a great idea and all, but the last thing I want if I'm stranded somewhere is rats all over me. Am I alone in this?

Just my $.02

remote controller rats

[Zod000]

Do they use 9.6 volt batteries? Those battery packs tend to run out so fast, I'd hate to have to recharge my rats after only a half hour of use. That simply wouldn't be acceptable.

umm....mixed feelings

[Bandman]

Yea, ok, the tech is cool, but I definatly have reservations about this. It's not from my usual "this technology is going to be the end of us" paranoia (though it might), it's just...I hate the idea of someone doing this to me so much, that I can't help but feel for the rats. Sure, they arn't "intelligent" (though that can be argued).
I just don't think that I could be proud of doing research on this project.

First step rats, the next step Congressman!

[chill]

The title says it all.

Makes for a great alibi, though. Combine it with a bone-conductive radio impland and it gives new credence to the old "voices told me to do it" excuse.

Re:First rats, then people

[btellier]

I don't know about you, but I think I would notice that portions of my skull were missing when my hairbrush perforated my brain.

Roaches

[Coward, Anonymous]

This was also done with cockroaches.

Re:Barbaric!

[Daniel Dvorkin]

I used to keep pet rats. The reason I stopped was because they have very short lifespans; I got sick of getting attached to cute, smart, affectionate little balls of fuzz and having them die within a couple of years. They each have their own personalities and their own feelings just as much as dogs or cats do. And gram for gram, they're probably smarter than any other animal on the planet. Also, they're extremely clean.

Are wild rats vicious? Of course they are, but so are wild dogs and wild cats. Raised by loving owners, they're wonderful creatures. Now, whether you think more traditional domestic animals have any rights or not is a separate issue ...

Ethical Concerns

[martyb]

From the article: "It's one thing to see a rat running around like this, people don't get too emotional about that, but as soon as you get into dogs or work animals, people start getting real excited," he said.

I can see it now. Farmers having livestock (cows, horses, etc.) implanted with these devices so all they have to do is throw a switch and they
are automatically commanded to come back to the barn for feeding / milking / slaughter / whatever. Add a GPS receiver, a livestock_id for each animal, and some software.

Or, use this to make sure that Man's Best Friend stays within the yard or comes back to you when out for a run at the park How about adding a small microphone and a clock so Spot is commanded to Not Bark At Night so you (and the neighbors!) can get some sleep?

I'm certain there are some people who would think these are Great Ideas ®

The immediate downside I see is there is no feedback loop. What if the AUC (Animal Under Control) breaks a leg, gets a deep cut, is threatened by a predator, or is otherwise incapacitated? The controller (human or automated) is unaware of this and keeps sending commands to "GO THIS WAY!!!" Shudder. I sure hope society works out the ethical considerations well before they overcome the technical limitations! Just because we can doesn't mean we should!

Sure, the expense is prohibitive, now. But there are some people for whom the expense is no object. The price of computers and other electronics have plummeted over the years. Power consumption requirements have dropped dramatically, too. I can well imagine that in 10 or so years, it would be possible to do this cheaply and easily.

So, if some day I wake up in a bathtub full of ice with a note beside me... instead of it saying my kidneys have been removed it'll say a remote control has been implanted in my brain. Let the urban legends begin! =)

A Clockwork Orange

[Baldrson]

Anthony Burgess, author of the book "A Clockwork Orange" was the artist in residence while I was in the undergraduate program at the Iowa City Writer's Workshop back in 1974. I think he based his book on the work of Jose M.R. Delgado, M.D. published under the book with the damn spooky title: "Physical Control of the Mind: Toward a Psychocivilized Society".

I managed to get a copy of the book finally, and discovered wonderful passages such as the following on page 115:

ESB [electrical stimulation of the brain -- JAB] may evoke more elaborate responses. For example, in one of our patients, electrical stimulation of the rostral part of the internal capsule produced head turning and slow displacement of the body to either side with a well-oriented and apparently normal sequence, as if the patient were looking for something. This stimulation was repeated six times on two different days with comparable results. The interesting fact was that the patient considered the evoked activity spontaneous and always offered a reasonable explanation for it. When asked, "What are you doing?" the answers were, "I am looking for my slippers," "I heard a noise," "I am restless," and "I was looking under the bed." In this case it was difficult to ascertain whether the stimulation had evoked a movement which the patient tried to justify, or if an hallucination had been elicited which subsequently induced the patient to move and to explore the surroundings.

This passage is eerily reminiscent of a passage from Richard Dawkins' "The Extended Phenotype" chapter titled "Host Phenotypes of Parasite Genes":

"Many fascinating examples of parasites manipulating the behavior of their hosts can be given. For nematomorph larvae, who need to break out of their insect hosts and get into water where they live as adults, '...a major difficulty in the parasite's life is the return to water. It is, therefore, of particular interest that the parasite appears to affect the behavior of its host, and "encourages" it to return to water. The mechanism by which this is achieved is obscure, but there are sufficient isolated reports to certify that the parasite does influence its host, and often suicidally for the host... One of the more dramatic reports describes an infected bee flying over a pool and, when about six feet over it, diving straight into the water. Immediately on impact the gordian worm burst out and swam into the water, the maimed bee being left to die' (Croll 1966)."

How it works

[EnglishTim]

I just saw a piece about this on BBC News 24 - and is basically works like this:

Three electrodes are put into the rat's brain. One electrode in the part of the brain that detects whisker movement for the left side and one electrode for the right. The third electrode stimulates a 'pleasure' section of the brain.

The researchers then stimulate each of the whisker electrodes and reward the rat with a burst of pleasure when it moves to that side. Soon stimulation of the whiskers can move the rat around.

Therefore, the whole rat brain is still there and working properly (it's not like it's been bypassed or anything), but when offered the chance to get a burst of pleasure the rats seem to comply almost without fail.