By Dr David Whitehouse

BBC News Online science editor

Guided rats controlled through implants in their brains could one day be used to search for landmines or buried victims of earthquakes, scientists say.

An extraordinary experiment has seen researchers steering five rodents - so-called ratbots - through an obstacle course by remote control.

Writing in the journal Nature, the scientists say the ratbots could reach places inaccessible to humans or machines.

The research team is led by Dr Sanjiv Talwar, of the State University of New York, US.

Commands and rewards

Electrodes were implanted into areas of the rats' brains responsible for sensing reward, as well as those that process signals from the whiskers.



The idea is sort of creepy

Dr Sanjiv Talwar, State University of New York