Joel Orr's World

Scientists in China say they have succeeded in controlling the flight of pigeons with micro electrodes planted in their brains, state media reports.

Scientists at the Robot Engineering Technology Research Centre at Shandong University of Science and Technology said their electrodes could command the pigeons to fly right or left, up or down, Xinhua news agency said.

"The implants stimulate different areas of the pigeon's brain according to signals sent by the scientists via computer and force the bird to comply with their commands," Xinhua said.

"It's the first such successful experiment on a pigeon in the world," Xinhua quoted the centre's chief scientist, Su Xuecheng, as saying.

Su and his colleagues, who Xinhua said had had similar success with mice in 2005, were improving the devices used in the experiment and hoped the technology could be put into practical use in future.

The report did not specify what practical uses the scientists saw for the remote-controlled pigeons.

Electrodes used to control pigeons - Breaking News - World - Breaking News.