The Mary Sue

Don’t Worry, Humans, Fish Are Silly Drunks Too

All right, bud, I'm calling you a crab!

by Carolyn Cox May 19th

Do you "drink like a fish?" Then according to a study published this week in the journal of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, you might be a negative influence on everyone around you. New research reveals the impact that alcohol has on schools of zebrafish, and it sounds...familiar.

In Unsurprising News, Live Fish Are Afraid of Robotic Fish Predators

Makes sense... human criminals are afraid of Robocop

by Jonah Feldman Aug 1st

As we all know, when you combine fish, alcohol, and robots, science happens. At the Polytechnic Institute of New York (NYU-Poly), researchers have been finding out how fish interact with robots, and in a new phase of their experiments, they were able to make robotic fish terrifying enough to trigger the predator-evading behavior of zebrafish.

Drunk Fish Reactions to Robotic Lady Fish Help Scientists Study Alcohol

Instead of getting rats and mice drunk to study alcohol's affects on the brain, a new technique uses drunk fish and robots.

by Glen Tickle Jun 6th

Typically when studying how alcohol affects the brain, scientists use rats and mice, but it could be last call for rodents. The Polytechnic Institute of New York has a new solution about how to study alcohol -- drunk fish and robots. The new method is supposed to be more efficient at getting consistent data, and it turns out drunk fish don't behave like drunk humans.

First Ever Video Of A Thought Taking Shape Captured [Video]

by Ian Chant Jan 31st

Researchers at Japan's National Institute of Genetics believe they've captured a world first video -- images of a thought making it's way through the brain of a zebrafish. It's not a particularly complicated thought -- essentially 'Hey, that looks like it could be food.' -- but the fact that the team has imaged the very stuff of even simple thought for the first time is really kind of amazing -- not unlike magic. Keep reading to see the video of this unprecedented look into the mind of a zebrafish.

How Does a Zebrafish Regrow Its Brain? We’re One Step Closer To Understanding

by Ian Chant Nov 9th

Zebrafish are the guinea pigs of the undersea world, used by countless researchers across the world to study neuroscience, genomics, and just about everything in between. Though the fish are well understood, they also have qualities that still flummox researchers. Topping that list is the fishes' inexplicable ability to regrow brain cells. The neat trick -- which is severely limited in humans and other mammals -- may have an unlikely origin, as new research suggests that the regenerative process is jumpstarted by inflammation that can be severely damaging to the brain as well.

Zebrafish Enter Brave New World, Editing DNA Made Frighteningly Simple

by Ian Chant Sep 24th

Thanks to a pretty well documented and uncomplicated genome, zebrafish are quickly becoming the first choice in genetic engineering models for researchers from a variety of fields. While understanding and tinkering with the DNA of a zebrafish may be easier than it is with other animals, genetic engineering is still a very difficult, time-consuming business. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic, though, have brought that dream closer to fruition, developing a toolkit that makes inserting, activating, and deactivating natural and synthetic genes in the zebrafish genome easier than ever and making it a much more reliable model for human disease.