Seriously, though, think about it: finding a quantitative way to understand and measure emotional responses in rats can be applied to better understand emotional disorders that millions of people suffer from every day.
Giggling Rats:
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/354/6313/757
As far as putting ants on stilts, scientists were trying to determine whether ants counted their steps. Why is that important? Well… Reasons.
Ants on Stilts:
