Rodent Robot Sex Helps Scientist Study Evolution

One scientist has found a way to study 1,000 generations of animals in a matter of days — using no live creatures and a lot of robot sex.

By using robots the size of rats, Dr. Stefan Elfwing of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology was able to study evolutionary patterns over thousands of generations without him growing old in the process. In an article published on April 9 in the journal PLOS ONE, Elfwing describes how this could provide a way for scientists to gather information about evolution much faster than before

His study also proves that robots can be used to study animals. Read more...