My Fellow Humans: Can't you see we're playing with fire here?

In Rat Experiment, New Hope for Spine Injuries - NYTimes.com

The rats then began a daily regimen. Outfitted with tiny vests, held upright on their back legs but left to bear their full weight, the rats tried to move toward a piece of cheese that beckoned nearby. They lurched forward like furry paratroopers, unsteady on their feet after a hard landing.

It's actually pretty rad research, and worth watching Frenchie explain it in the embedded video, plus you get to watch the cyborat climb stairs--presumably preparatory to raiding an al-Qaida safehouse somewhere in Yemen.

(FYI, the writer--Benedict Carey--has allowed himself several figurative flourishes on par with the pull quote above. Look out for brain-as-army and Chia Pet analogies.)