The Cat’s Meow
Posted in Scientists are always on the lookout for a way to better understand the world and the creatures that live in it. No matter which way you turn there is always the time when someone is trying to figure out one of the many unknowns that this world has to offer. At this point the study of animals is the way in which we learn about nature. For centuries the world of science has been in awe of the way in which a mammal can be so much more in tune with the world then humans are. Animals can easily predict weather and forecast the lurking danger, things that humans are behind the times with to be sure. But new research is set to give us a better look at how the animals view the world.
A group of U.S. based scientists have developed whiskers that will tell us more about how the animals who have whiskers use them and then in turn use the information they gain from them. Dubbed “robotic whiskers” these instruments are meant to give the researchers a better idea of the information that is transmitted to the animals brain by way of the whiskers. This is a cutting edge experiment that has been years in the making.
At this point the researchers are focusing their attention on the rat community. Through this method they hope to move forward to other species that rely heavily on their whiskers. Rats are known to be some of the most amazing animals in the world with their ability to squeeze into tiny places and find their way in the dark. This project looks to find out what role the whiskers play in the life of a rat and how they help it too survive the world.
The whiskers are impressive in the fact that they offer real time data to the brain, which is replaced by a computer with rendering software. This data comes in the form of dimensional images and fluid movements. With this knowledge in hand the project has already been a success. It has shown that the whiskers on mammals are far more important then once thought. While in past years it was believed that the whiskers were nothing more then feelers to give the animal an idea if it could go into a certain sized space, they now realize that the offering of information is far greater.
The robotic whiskers are telling the researchers a lot about how the animals see the world. They hope that this information will give them the basis for further study and perhaps become useful to the human population in one way or another.
