A prong extending from a remote-controlled robot prototype approaches the mouth of a volunteer to extract a throat swab sample, as part of a self-funded project to assist physicians in running tests on suspected COVID-19 coronavirus patients in a bid to limit human exposure to disease-carriers, at a private hospital in Egypt's Nile delta city of Tanta, on March 20, 2021. (Photo by Khaled Desouki/AFP Photo)

Three years ago, Shane Willmott wowed the world with his surfing mice. Now, the Australian has taken on a new challenge - training his radical rodents to skateboard. Mr Willmott, who lives in the Gold Coast area of eastern Australia, near Brisbane, has even built his furry friends a mini skate park. Fearless mice Harvey and Pedro take on ramps, half-pipes and even a deadly ring of fire.

Mr. Ben, a pygmy slow loris, is administed anesthetic during one of Bristol Zoo's in-house veterinary clinic routine health check-up and teeth clean as part of the Zoo's standard animal husbandry and welfare procedure at Bristol Zoo on June 18, 2009 in Bristol, England. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Medical workers walk by a police robot at the Wuhan Tianhe International Airport after travel restrictions to leave Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province and China's epicentre of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, were lifted, April 8, 2020. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)

Spanish actor Antonio Banderas embraces a robot used in the film Automata during a photocall on the third day of the 62nd San Sebastian Film Festival, September 21, 2014. Banderas stars in and produced the science fiction film, which is part of the festival's official section. (Photo by Vincent West/Reuters)

Mahmoud El Komy, a 26-year-old Egyptian mechatronics engineer, stands beside Cira 3, a remote-controlled robot that runs tests on suspected coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients, to limit the human exposure to the virus, amid a second wave of infections in Tanta, Egypt, November 18, 2020. (Photo by Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters)

A major new exhibition exploring the irresistible force of cuteness in contemporary culture at Somerset House, London on January 24, 2024. From emojis to internet memes, video games to plushie toys, food to loveable robotic design, cuteness has taken over our world. (Photo by Paul Quezada-Neiman/Alamy Live News)