Lamprey cyborg sees the light and responds

The $6-million eel it ain’t. But researchers who have taken the unprecedented step of connecting a brain, in this case a sea lamprey’s brain, to a small mobile robot say they’ve got a roving fishbot that may someday lead to better prosthetic devices for humans.

In the meantime, the two-wheeled robot that scoots about the lab bench in response to light may help scientists better understand how an animal’s nervous system and a machine can communicate with each other.