Free Republic

Researchers have developed a new kind of synthetic creature, using the heart cells of a rat to make a robotic stingray that follows light. While the rat-ray hybrid certainly sounds like a bit of a Frankenstein mish-mash, it's serious research that could help pave the way for a greater understanding of how hearts pump blood around the body – in addition to leading to new kinds of more sophisticated synthetic robots. The ray is the brainchild of bioengineer Kit Parker from the Wyss Institute at Harvard University, who was inspired to develop the cyborg after visiting an aquarium with his...

Mayor Mike needs lessons on when to shut his yap -- like when he's galli vanting around the globe and is suddenly moved to bash a key part of the US government, using crude hyperbole. "You look at who we're electing to Congress, to the Senate," the mayor said in Hong Kong last week, days after the midterm elections. "They can't read." He went on: "I'll bet you a bunch of these people don't have passports. We're about to start a trade war with China if we're not careful here, only because nobody knows where China is." Some folks, understandably,...