These Tiny Cyborg Stingrays Are Made Out of Rat Parts

The last time we checked in with engineering professor Kit Parker, his students had finished building a brisket-smoking robot. It's easy to see why they did that: Brisket is tasty, brisket is hard to cook, and Harvard kids are wicked smaht. His latest project is no less impressive, but it requires greater mental gymnastics to parse. Here's the easily understood cool part: A team led by Parker created artificial stingrays that use a rat's heart cells as motors, and the rays can be controlled with a blinking light. Here's another cool part that's harder to grok: One day, the team's techniques could help build artificial human organs.