These robot fish sniff out icky pollutants in seconds flat

On Tuesday morning, European researchers launched a school of robot fish into the sea, giving them their first test outside of the lab. The superspendy fish -- each boasts a $31,600 price tag -- can detect pollutants in the water within seconds, which means they could find leaking pipes or oil spills well before their human counterparts. They also communicate with each other like real fish, can map where they've been and are "smart" enough to return to shore before their eight-hour batteries die. "Chemical sensors fitted to the fish permit real-time ... analysis, rather than the current method of sample collection," one scientist said. Beats the hell out of the Big Mouth Billy Bass.