Monkey Thinks Robot into Action

That is amazing. It will be so good for the handicapped. However, my paranoid self also sees much potential for abuse of this technology.

I was disgusted by the Nightly News report on research using rhesus monkeys. Notice that the camera hid from viewers the wires attached to the monkey's brain in order to quell any public outrage. How is this good reporting??

Each year, tens of millions of animals are subjected to laboratory experiments that routinely include – and sometimes intentionally cause – pain, suffering, and even death. According to some national statistics, nearly two-thirds of all animal research has little or nothing to do with curing human diseases or advancing human medicine, and much of this research is government supported.

Diseases that are artificially induced in animals in a laboratory are never identical to those that occur naturally in human beings. And because animal species differ from one another in many biologically significant ways, it becomes even more unlikely that animal research will yield results that will be correctly interpreted and applied to the human condition in a meaningful way. The fact that animals most often used in laboratory experiments are chosen largely for nonscientific reasons, such as cost and ease of handling, casts further doubt on the validity of this research.

While there are proven humane alternatives to the use of animals in research, testing, and education, animals continue to be viewed as expendable research "tools" by many researchers and educators. It's time for the National Institute of Health to apply the scientific rationale from the National Research Council report- which concluded that ending reliance on animal tests will allow scientists to more accurately and reliably predict health risks- to all areas of research and scale back (taxpayer) funding of wasteful and grotesque animal experiments. I encourage all concerned citizens to speak out for those who can't and oppose the cruelty and inefficiency of animal experiments.