The Brain-Controlled RatCar, or the First Still From the Live Action Pinky and the Brain Movie

Being our go-to creatures for all manner of scientific and technological tests, rats often get the craziest gear several generations before we humans do. So what's latest and greatest in rat tech? The RatCar, a brian-controlled, battery-powered rodent buggy.

The RatCar, developed by researchers at the University of Tokyo, is controlled by electrodes implanted directly into the rodent driver's motor cortex, unlike other devices that use non-invasive sensors. It's the first step toward a brain-machine interface that would allow disabled (human) individuals to control their wheelchairs entirely with their minds. So how do you teach a rat to drive with its brain?



The researchers admit that there is some uncertainty about how much of the driving the rats were actually doing, and they're designing new tests to refine the system. In the meantime, just be glad that this particular rat doesn't have world domination on the mind. Yet. [Spectrum IEEE via PopSci]