Two friends hanging out Laleh Quinn
Would you help a trapped robot? Some rats would. The rodents canĀ form social bonds with robots and will evenĀ help rescue aĀ robotic ratĀ that’s trapped in a cage.
Animals, including rats, need to be highly attuned to social signals from others so they can identify friends to cooperate with and enemies to avoid. To find out if this extends to non-living beings, at the University of California, San Diego and her colleagues tested whether rats can detect social signals from robotic rats.
They housed eight adult rats with two types…
