At BoingBoing, Xeni Jardin reports on new and intriguing life forms:

Brain Rat Cells in US Control Robotic Semi-Living Artist in Australia

Roland points us to a Georgia Institute of Technology news release announcing that U.S. and Australian researchers have jointly created "a new class of creative beings, 'the semi-living artist'." I don't know what all the fuss is about. I think the last couple of guys I've dated could be described as "semi-living artists," and at least one of them may well have been controlled by rat neurons.

But she doesn't address some of the questions raised by the existence of these semi-living artists she's been dating -- questions which may be of considerable interest to researchers like those at Georgia Tech. What is their habitat? What are their housing requirements? And most importantly, would experiments on them require approval from a Human Subjects Committee?