Rats have been asked to do a lot in the name of science. Researchers had them complete mazes, solve puzzles, wear makeup, ...

“Unexpectedly, we found that the rats had an intense motivation for their driving training, often jumping into the car and revving the ‘lever engine’ before their vehicle hit the road ...

Although cars made for rats are far from anything they would encounter in the wild, we believed that driving represented an interesting way to study how rodents acquire new skills. Unexpectedly ...

Rats typically prefer dirt, sticks and rocks over plastic objects. Now, we had them driving cars. But humans didn't evolve to drive either. Although our ancient ancestors didn't have cars ...

After we published our research, the story of driving rats went viral. The project continues in my lab with new, improved rat-operated vehicles, or ROVs, designed by Randolph-Macon College ...