Scientists are teaching goldfish to drive. A team at Ben-Gurion University in Israel created an FOV—or fish-operated vehicle—to study how fish navigate new environments.
Sensors in the FOV detect the direction its goldfish “driver” swims, and the vehicle moves in response. To see if the fish could purposefully control where the vehicle goes, the scientists set out colorful targets. If the fish drove toward them, they received a reward. All six goldfish subjects successfully learned to navigate to the markers, as well as around obstacles.
These results suggest that fish can learn to find their way around an unfamiliar setting. “We’ll continue this study by giving the fish a larger and more complex environment to drive through,” says Shachar Givon, who worked on the study. That may even include navigating a maze, she adds.