It?s almost like playtime for them. We can?t hold them back. There is one in particular that always wants to cut in front of the other penguins, so that he can walk across the mat first. It?s pretty cute.

Maybe it could extend to stroke or other pathological patients who have an increased incidence of falls and an inability to control locomotion.

Compared to other terrestrial animals, penguins have an excessive amount of side-to-side, waddling motion. If humans waddle too much they fall, but penguins somehow overcome this. They may have an elegant movement strategy for stability that we're unaware of.

They are easy subjects, very cooperative. They seem to enjoy being studied.

There is not much research on this issue, so we?re hopeful about the results.

Successes are successes and failures are failures; we've definitely had our share of both, but we're [reaching] more donors and volunteers all the time.