A robot with the mind of a fish; at first glance it looks like the plot of a bad B-movie. The Guardian (UK, 18 April) describes it as “an arrangement reminiscent of the genesis of the Daleks” and “the marriage of baby bloodsucker and Swiss engineering”. The Times announces; “It cannot yet do the housework or repel alien invaders, but the first functioning cyborg ... has arrived” (UK, 18 April). However, according to scientists in Chicago, it might be the key to developing sophisticated robotic devices that respond to nerve impulses.

A team led by Sandro Mussa-Ivaldi at Northwestern University have harnessed the mechanism that enables the lamprey eel to remain upright, linking it to “an off-the-shelf Swiss robot” (The Guardian, 18 April) to create a robotic creature that moves in response to light. Mussa-Ivaldi told the Washington Post (USA, 16 April) “Until the recent past, people were using biological systems to inspire technology. Now we have gone one step beyond, to tap into the nervous system itself”. It is suspected that the robot might even have the capacity to learn, but keeping the brain tissue alive for long enough to find out remains a major challenge. “The brain remains alive for only a few days in its special solution before the machine expires, and another lamprey must die”(The Times, 18 April).

As the Washington Post points out, this is one of a number of recent examples of 'critter science'. They also report that scientists in Iowa are using moth antenna as odour detectors in a remote-controlled vehicle designed to sniff out land mines. Fans of the Dr Who TV series will no doubt be intrigued to learn that the Iowa team is headed by Tom Baker!