The Reading team is not the first to harness living tissue to control robots.

BBC: Rat-brain robot aids memory study

You wear a five-point harness, and the controls are a bit like a powerboat: you control the throttle with one hand, pitch with the other.

BBC: Polar express

Throughout history, man has made efforts to control water, divert it by means of canals, carry it via aqueducts, store it in reservoirs, harness it with water wheels and so on.

ECONOMIST: Small projects often give better returns