Two cameras monitor how the mouse in the box is feeling. AI algorithms detect even the slightest change in body posture and facial expressions. Credit: Oliver Sturman / ETH Zurich At first glance, the white plastic box with a bright orange floor looks like something for storing children's toys. However, the box isn't used to store Lego bricks; it contains real mice—with the aim of minimizing their suffering. "This box allows laboratory animals to be observed in a humane and standardized way, whether by us here in Zurich or by researchers on the other side of the world," says Oliver Sturman, Head of the 3R Hub. The Hub is the point of contact at ETH Zurich for questions relating to the 3Rs—Replace, Reduce, Refine. For demonstration purposes, Sturman places a black plastic mouse in the box. Inside the box, whose front wall and lid are made of black acrylic sheets, it is pitch dark. "This is important, so that the animals feel comfortable and unobserved," says the neuroscientist.…