Meet robo-ray: Tiny mutant stingray that is part-machine, part-RAT can swim gracefully through water

When you think of a robot, you may imagine a shiny, metallic machine with a jerky gait. But engineers have created a robotic stingray that mimics the movement of the graceful and efficient marine creature. Stranger still, the robo-ray is powered and guided by light-sensitive rat heart cells. The neutrally-charged gold skeletons mimic a stingray's shape and are overlaid with a thin layer of stretchy polymer to give it flexibility and shrug off the water Researcher Kevin Kit Parker told MailOnline the Eureka moment for the project came when he took his daughter to the New England Aquarium. 'She was trying to pet a stingray and she put her hand in the water and the stingray quickly moved away from her hand and a very elegant way.