 |
Rat Neurons In A Dish Now Playing Flight Simulator
In his excellent 1999 novel Starfish, science fiction writer Peter Watts wrote about "cultured brains on a slab" - a "head cheese" - that could pilot a plane as well as a person. Now, University of Florida scientist Dr. Thomas DeMarse has created a "brain in a dish" that can interact with a computer flight simulation.
(From Science Daily)
The "brain" is a small puddle of 25,000 living neurons taken from a rat's brain and cultured in a glass dish.
"It's essentially a dish with 60 electrodes arranged in a grid at the bottom," DeMarse said. "Over that we put the living cortical neurons from rats, which rapidly begin to reconnect themselves, forming a living neural network – a brain."The individual neurons are distributed randomly at the beginning of the experiment, and are not connected. The aircraft simulation of an F-22 fighter jet feeds data into the grid about flight conditions; whether the plane is flying straight and level or not. The neurons begin to organize themselves, forming connections to each other. The neurons analyze the data and respond by sending signals to the plane's controls.
At first, the simulated plane drifts randomly. But the neural network slowly learns; currently, the brain can control the pitch and roll of the simulated craft in most weather conditions, including storms and hurricane-force winds.
DeMarse points out that, while computers have fast processing speeds, they can't approach the flexibility of the human brain. Certain kinds of computation, like recognizing a previously unseen piece of furniture as a table or a lamp, is difficult to program into a computer. Peter Watts points out this very same fact in his choice of living neurons as pilots:
Humans had always been able to integrate 3-D spatial information better than the machines that kept trying to replace them...Read the original stories here and here. Read a short bio on Thomas DeMarse, Assistant Professor at the University of Florida's School of Biomedical Engineering.Until now, apparently...
(Read more from Starfish smart gels)
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 10/25/2004)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 24 )
Related News Stories - (" Artificial Intelligence ")
Hopfield Neural Net Helper AIs For Astronauts
Wouldn't it be nice to have a kind of 'helper' AI that could go with you and notice things that you don't?
Computer, Heal Thyself - With ClearView
When you can read about an idea fifty years before it's implemented (and in an entertaining story to boot), that's good value.
Emily Howell - The Computer Is The Composer
Updated with new reference! Keep an eye out for the new CD by an artificially intelligent composer named Emily Howell.
Aroxo Intelligent Agents Negotiate For You
Technology startup ready to put its software agents to work for you.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Current News
AirRobot Micro-UAV 'Fairies' In Shakespeare Play
At least they were not the 'rude mechanicals'.
Paralysis Ray Uses Photocontrolled Molecular Switch
Gerry was dubious. She had seen abortive attempts at paralysis rays before.
Brine Wells May Swallow Towns
Dissolve 1 teaspoon of the Quadraturin essence in 1 cup of water.
Will In-Vitro Meat Change Our Lives?
ChickieNobs, anyone?
Walky iPhone Finger Gesture Robot Controller
Let your fingers - uh - your robot do the walking. And hopping.
OnStar Stolen Vehicle Slowdown Foils Carjacker
Better than a car chase.
Robot Martial Arts Videos
Robo-Shiko!
Interactive TV Patent From Sony
Can you dance faster than the White Clown?
Smart Contact Lens With Power Harvesting Circuits
Smart contacts with VR connections.
'Significant Amount' Of Lunar Water Found
Droogs! There's water ice on the moon!
FOXP2 Tweak Yields Planet Of The Apes?
Get your filthy words off me, you damn dirty ape!
Lev, Theremin-Playing Robot
Patsy Cline classic played by robot.
XT-1 Micro Mouse With Blazing Speed
These are fully autonomouse robots.
Escape Pods, Refuge Of ISS Astronauts From Space Junk
Who first thought about escape pods?
Steerable Bowling Ball Is A Cheesy Spherical Robot
Once the province of geeks, now in bowling alleys.
Bio-Mechanics And Micro-Robotic Flight
Micro air vehicles and insect flight.
