Have you ever sat there late night and wondered, "are goldfish capable of learning to drive?" Silly question, of course you have. Well wonder no more, because a team of scientists in Israel have successfully taught goldfish how to DRIVE.
In the new study, they wanted to see if fish could learn to drive a small, robotic vehicle they built on land. They called it an "F.O.V." or "Fish Operated Vehicle." A special camera on top tracked how the fish moved, and translated it into directions for them. So if they swam toward one side of the tank, the whole thing would go that direction at about one mile per hour.
Next, they put it in a room with a big target on one of the walls. And if it could make it to the target, they'd reward it with food.
After three days of hard work, the goldfish were able to successfully drive the vehicle in a straight line toward the target. A true miracle. In fact, 6 of the fish were able to do it.
Will we be seeing huge, human-sized goldfish driving by us on the interstate anytime soon? First off, what a horrifying thought. Second, probably not. But it's sure cute to picture these goldfish driving tiny little cars.
