How to break the Internet

It's easy. Anyone can do it.

Step 1: Teach rats to drive cars.

Step 2: Publish research about it.

Congratulations, you just broke the Internet.

That, anyway, was the experience this fall of behavioral neuroscience professor Kelly Lambert, whose rat-driving research has significant implications for understanding mental health treatment, emotional resilience, and environmental influences on the motivation to learn.

Ten Richmond faculty, staff, and students, including psychology professor Laura Knouse, ’02, joined her as co-authors on the study, which was picked up by media around the world. At last count, more than 1,500 articles reaching an estimated 2 billion potential readers in more than 40 countries have been published by everyone from Discover to Good Morning America to humor website Funny or Die (and even a humor bit on The Onion).

Learn more about the research at bitly.com/URDrivingRats.