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Rats learned to drive
- theGeatZhopa 2y agoNow someone tell me how to teach 'en not to drink and drive - plain English wouldn't work I guess.
- shiroiushi 2y agoWe still haven't figured out how to teach humans, in their own native languages, how to not drink and drive. But maybe the rats will be smarter.
- imp0cat 2y agoThis is the beginning of a research that will ultimately make humans enjoy their rush hour commutes.
- m463 2y agoall the research would have to say "in rats"
- fnord77 2y agoI have an idea for a "self" driving car company.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- adxl 2y agoRatmo?
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- dredmorbius 2y agoWe've achieve ratonomous vehicles before autonomous, certainly.
- inSenCite 2y agoThis is the cutest thing I've seen all day
- do_not_redeem 2y agoThe researcher jumping for joy in the last video is almost as cute as the rats. Everyone is having a good time!
- 404mm 2y agoThis reminded me of the orangutan driving a golf cart: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DJsn1QivbKM https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DJsn1QivbKM He has mastered it. He clearly understands the concept of roads vs sidewalks. He can drive using one hand. And most importantly, he obviously has a great time doing that.
- grahamj 2y agoThat is hilarious. He drives better than a lot of people I see on the road. So chill!
- Mistletoe 2y agoWatching him go by that tiger has given me so much joy tonight thank you.
- Baeocystin 2y agoThe subtle smile at the end of the Tiger's enclosure!
- rapnie 2y agoOr dogs skateboarding, leaning into the curve of the roads. https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=dog+skating&iax=videos&ia=videos https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=dog+skating&iax=videos&ia=v...
- akira2501 2y agoMaybe skateboards are just instinctual. Anyways, here's a tiny turtle on a skateboard. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVbtAYPSapw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVbtAYPSapw
- ffsm8 2y agoInstinctual is not the description I'd personally agree on, I mean just look at this https://m.youtube.com/shorts/rEwpaMJLgTI https://m.youtube.com/shorts/rEwpaMJLgTI
- tediousgraffit1 2y agoliteral rat race when?
- mofunnyman 2y agoYou should check out micromouse, it's a robo rat race.
- grahamj 2y agoAmazing! And these rats look just like our boys which really... drives this home.
- Mistletoe 2y agoMaybe it is hard coded in sentient beings to enjoy moving at speed with very little energy expenditure. To quote C.S. Lewis in the The Last Battle- “If one could run without getting tired, I don’t think one would often want to do anytrung else?” As a runner, I agree. :)
- gyomu 2y agoBirds who can soar for hours on end with thermals won evolution as far as I’m concerned (they have befriended the spirals)
- danparsonson 2y agoI've seen frigate birds taking off at sunset, flying around a bit and then going back to their nests - pretty sure they were just enjoying the experience :-)
- WalterBright 2y agoI do regular running, and sometimes it's just pure joy.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- Mistletoe 2y agoUgh this should have said “anything”, I can’t edit it now. You guys get it.
- qingcharles 2y agoDozens of videos from TikTok of rats driving cars very similar to the ones in the article: (not a joke link) https://www.tiktok.com/@emperorsofmischief https://www.tiktok.com/@emperorsofmischief
- leoh 2y agoWhen can we teach them how to sail or drive motor boats
- sandworm101 2y agoFish can drive cars too. https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/goldfish-driving-1.6309485 https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/goldfish-driving-1.6309485 >>> Surprisingly, it doesn't take the fish a long time to learn how to drive the vehicle. They're confused at first. They don't know what's going on. But they're very quick to realize that there is a correlation between their movement and the movement of the machine that they're in.
- crooked-v 2y agoMy armchair biologist thought is to wonder if there's a common thread of balancing (on water currents, air currents, slippery surfaces, etc) that translates into fairly easily understanding how to direct vehicles.
- shmeeed 2y agoOf course this fits right in with the thread's theme of animals driving, and I don't want to be a spoilsport, but this article has me not too convinced about the bold claim it makes. As good as it sounds, I have my reservations about it showing "that a fish has the cognitive capability to navigate outside its natural environment". Rather it seems to me the fish is just swimming in the direction of the treat, as it would do _inside_ its natural environment, and the car translates that directional push - I don't see a real "driving" coordination in the sense of a motoric abstraction based on a learning of cause and effect. I doubt the fish are in any way "aware" of what's happening, or even that it's happening distinctly outside their environment. They're just swimming instinctively, adopting to what I imagine might a feel like a strong breaking current and a boop on the nose. Some might be more adept at this than others. After all they're captive animals that probably don't have much experience navigating challenging environments, not even aquatic ones. I highly suspect "driving" via levers or buttons like the rats do would be beyond of what can be reasonably expected from a goldfish brain anyway. As a kind of mental cross-check of the claim, I'd expect, say, a moth to be able to "drive" just the same way towards a light - and it would be pretty obvious there's no deeper cognition involved.
- bitwize 2y agoI'm reminded of the YouTube vids in which someone places a small toy finger skateboard underneath a turtle. The turtle quickly learned to propel itself with its legs and, having acquired a taste for speed, uses its newfound ability to harass the cats. Cowabunga! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UIe8Y0k-QDw https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UIe8Y0k-QDw
- shepherdjerred 2y agoI had no idea a turtle could be so playful
- eternauta3k 2y agoWait til they make a rat bicycle, that'll break the Internet. Seriously though, I wonder if they drive to please the researchers (to any degree).
- MonkeyClub 2y agoMany people drive to please the managers.
- fuzzythinker 2y agoFull video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08G8u7sk2Jo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08G8u7sk2Jo A different one, in a home environment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYHMc3-f3v8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYHMc3-f3v8
- verisimi 2y agoThe home one .. nice people but there's something so lost about dedicating your life and house to your pet rats. Everyone seems to living a fake life in that.
- sebastianz 2y agoI don't think there's anything "lost" about having a hobby, or passion and love for your pets. I find it endearing and sweet. I'm not sure if english is your first language or you intended it like that but saying that someone is living a "fake life" also sounds quite offensive and arrogant.
- verisimi 2y agoDo you think its ok to remodel your life (time, house, money) around your pet rats? I used 'fake' because this is nothing like a natural human life, nor a natural rat life.
- neom 2y agohuh? I have pet rats and you should see my house! Looks like a little zoo. It's a great deal of fun training them and providing them with joy. Could be a dog or a cat or anything else, I just happened to absolutely love rats!
- account42 2y agoAs opposed to grinding at work in order to improve ad performance by 0.1%?
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- cultofmetatron 2y agoreminds me of this classic https://www.amazon.com/Mouse-Motorcycle-Ralph-Book-ebook/dp/B00188V7TQ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=TAQOLZDDGPP7&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Bnl1KNcfqsjZajAwFBjU1vdv-5YKkpaZRLp7EaJaT4xWkO-v3ATxlRm1hbaGosyy7NF9g3ffxsexxvYM_avbLfWtfVYFYk565GE6L5R65wHlnu_W0hABA-WNDVG6D_qG6gAo-_jmzAGTv8-WG4jKrRiSquanDdB0etKo0-Je35IWUMQ1EyXS0DE3LeRxkHecNk9Dhi9Qaaqrnd469ik_galBEMHmKLEIdq7YIl2OmPU.jgT59R09ER33KOCgPc6qtUQLI666GozYqepeQ9XzTY0&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+mouse+and+the+motorcycle&qid=1731996117&sprefix=the+mouse+and+the%2Caps%2C407&sr=8-1 https://www.amazon.com/Mouse-Motorcycle-Ralph-Book-ebook/dp/...
- srkiNZ 2y agoReally enjoyed this article. Longevity and health increasingly seems to be intrinsically tied to planning for better things, hoping for better things and enjoying the process.
- veltas 2y agoJust now scientists are finding out driving is fun, when we're just about ready to ban it! Mind you, I don't think the rats would enjoy it as much if they had to share the road with the kind of rats I share it with, and if the penalty for crashing (or being crashed into) was as high.
- creesch 2y agoPfffft, nobody is banning driving. Self driving cars are not going to be rolled out that widely for a while. Also, moving away from car centric infrastructure doesn't mean that cars are getting banned. That's such a weird US centric take I see way too often. Here in the Netherlands, we arguably have some of the most bike and pedestrian friendly infrastructure in the world. Guess what, we also have a very well respected car infrastructure with high quality highways and connections. Focussing on other modes of transport isn't banning cars, it is making cars optional for those who choose to do so. Or worded differently, it gives people a choice. With that out of the way, the title here on HN is misleading. It is not so much about driving but enrichment in general.
- veltas 2y agoYeah sorry that was a joke, if not clear
- interludead 2y agoDriving is fun until you factor in traffic, reckless drivers, and the stakes of accidents
- pjmlp 2y agoStill beats losing train connections, being pressed in a sardine can until everyone fits in, or stop in the middle of nowhere wondering when it will start moving again. But you can combine best of both world experiences, being compressed in a bus, stuck in a middle of stop and go traffic.
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- kylehotchkiss 2y agoMy new nightmare: the rats are all driving cars to their nightly plight to my yard.
- interludead 2y agoNow imagine the aftermath: rat tire tracks all over your lawn. A true nightmare, indeed!
- ashoeafoot 2y agoIf i show an elephant or a orang utan google maps, does he know how to use it?
- interludead 2y agoI saw a news story about rats being trained in Tanzania to search for people under rubble. These animals have sharp hearing and an excellent sense of smell. I just don’t remember the exact breed of these rats. I really like these animals!
- kombookcha 2y agoI believe there is also a very interesting project that uses trained rats to detect and mark landmines for clearing. The rats can apparently smell even very old explosives under the dirt, and unlike their handlers are too light to set them off :)
- interludead 2y agoIt’s cool to see animals being such unexpected heroes
- pvaldes 2y agoIs not a breed, is a different species. Giant pouched rats from the African rainforests. Not even in the same family as the domestic rats.
- interludead 2y agoAh, thanks for clarifying! It’s even cooler knowing they’re a whole different species with such unique abilities
- borbtactics 2y agoI have a new casino idea.
- dumb1224 2y agoYou should call it rat race ;)
- muffwiggler 2y ago[flagged]
- gyre007 2y agoWho needs self-driving cars when we can have rat-driving cars?
- factormeta 2y agoWho needs rat-driving cars, when you have Snakes on a Plane: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakes_on_a_Plane https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakes_on_a_Plane
- coolius 2y agoI would totally watch them race each other.
- mock-possum 2y agoZardulu strikes again
- tomcam 2y agoThe funniest thing to me is that rats are much quicker on their feet than they are in the toy car.
- Timwi 2y agoThat's beside the point. Walking/running requires energy and is exhausting. The car provides its own energy, so driving is easy and relaxing. I know which one I'd prefer!
- JoachimS 2y ago"One day, a student noticed something strange: One of the rats in the group trained to expect positive experiences had its tail straight up with a crook at the end, resembling the handle of an old-fashioned umbrella." For anyone having, being friends with, are interested in cats will recognize this behavior. If you meet a cat on the street and it raises its tail like this, it will also probably come up to you. A cat that sweeps the tail back and fort, often with the end of it a bit jerky is probably afraid, angry, hesitant and does not want to engage. It should be left alone unless you want to feel the sharp end of those retractable razor blades. Cats also use the same patterns between each other. And interestingly some dogs use the same patterns too. Tiger puppies seem to do this also (as seen in documentaries). So, at least to me, there seems to be common 'language' to express feelings and interests between some animals equipped with tails. I would have thought this should have been a known thing, possibly even for the driving rat scientists. Anybody on HN that have some references into known ´tail language´?
- luke-stanley 2y agoIs it like an "Oh hi!" tail? Suddenly interested in the `animal tail gestures embedding space`! There must be lots of interesting ways of conveying feelings, strategic intent and misdirection along with subconscious communication.
- sachinaag 2y ago[dead]
- cainxinth 2y ago> Unexpectedly, we found that the rats had an intense motivation for their driving training, often jumping into the car and revving the "lever engine" before their vehicle hit the road. Why was that? That is absolutely adorable and wonderful!
- rock115 2y agoRats learning to drive is cool and all, but the real takeaway is how anticipation of fun can rewire our brains. Behavioral "pharmaceuticals" are a wild concept.
- cheeseomlit 2y agoMan those rats really hit the jackpot. They're over here cruisin while their buddies a few rooms over are probably getting vivisected or something.
- neom 2y agoIf you're into rats doing cool things for food and fun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AV9z0c1hjnA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AV9z0c1hjnA