“Nonetheless, the idea is sort of creepy. I do not know what the answer is to that.”

So says Dr Sanjiv Talwar, of the State University of New York. He has successfully implanted electrodes into the brain of a rat so that its movement can be remotely controlled. Is Dr Talwar secretly planning world dominition with his army of cyborg vermin? I mean forget weapons of mass destruction; imagine armies of rats invading cities, driving people out of their homes, speading disease and terror across nations! OK, so the real world applications of this technology are much more positive than that; the 6 million dollar rats could be controlled to seek out earthquake victims trapped in rubble, although the last thing I’d want to see if I was trapped under a building is a pseudo-intelligent rat staring me in the face. So, further indication that humankind wants to control the natural world solely for his / her benefit, or a useful leap forward in artificial intelligence? I’m sure the debate will rage on.

BBC News | SCI/TECH | Here come the ratbots

   Here's an AIM chat I had with [Stu](http://www.t-melt.com) on the subject…  

**(01:28) stootang: **I guess if you were stuck the rat could find you and then you could eat it while you wait to be rescued

**(01:29) stootang: **if you were really hungry I mean….

  **(01:29) mattj3002: **yeah… they could be genetically modified to taste good :)  


  **(01:29) stootang: **well, naturally  

**(01:29) mattj3002: **to taste like er… a MacDonalds

**(01:29) stootang: **maybe they could make remote controlled donuts

**(01:29) mattj3002: **haha  


 **(01:29) mattj3002: **now that's an idea!