Date:04/05/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/04/stories/2008050451991800.htm

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Robot squirrels, lizards in research

AMHERST: One grey squirrel, its bushy tail twitching, barked a warning as another scrounged for food.

It was an ordinary spring day at Hampshire College, except that the rodent issuing the warning was powered by amps, not acorns.

Dubbed ‘Rocky’ after the cartoon character, the robo-squirrel is working its way into Hampshire’s live-squirrel clique, controlled by researchers positioned nearby with a laptop computer and binoculars.

Sarah Partan, an assistant professor in animal behaviour at Hampshire, hopes that by capturing a close-up of squirrels in nature, Rocky will help her team decode squirrels’ communication techniques, social cues and survival instincts.

Rocky is among many robotic critters worldwide helping researchers observe animals in their natural environments rather than in labs. The research could let scientists better understand how animals work in groups, court, intimidate rivals and warn allies of danger.

In Indiana, a fake lizard shows off its machismo as researchers assess which actions intimidate and which attract real lizards. Pheromone-soaked cockroach counterfeits in Brussels, meanwhile, exert peer pressure on real roaches to move out of protective darkness. In California, a tiny video camera inside a fake female sage grouse records close-up details as it is wooed by the breed’s promiscuous males. — AP