Rat-Brained Robot

This is a BBC story about a really cool research program that uses a rat brain to run a mechanical robot (thanks Gill for bringing it to my attention). It reminds me of my days as rat neurosurgeon at NYU Medical Center. I was working on the other hybrid possibility (rat body, machine brain - well, at least machine-influenced brain).

In other news, I have been interviewing almost daily on the phone and in-house with several financial firms, as well as some alternatives to Wall Street shops. I am hoping to get an offer or two by the end of the week. If I start work in the coming few weeks it will be a crazy month ahead - new job, foreign service test in DC, and the birth of my baby daughter. Speaking of babies, today we had our baby care class where we got to diaper and swaddle scary baby dolls. I'm ready for the real thing (or rather, ready for someone else to do it while I watch from an odor-safe corner).