Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Brain Chips With Uniform Self-Organized Neurons
A uniform neural net of brain cells - a brain chip - has been created by a team of scientists lead by Yael Hanein of Tel Aviv University in Israel.
(Rat brain cells form organized clusters - a brain chip)
100-micrometer-wide bundles of nanotubes were used to get the rat neurons to form regular patterns on a sheet of quartz. The neurons bind to the nanotubes, which are placed close enough for the nerve cells' axons and dendrites to make links between cells and clusters. The electrical activity of the brain chip can be easily measured because carbon nanotubes conduct electricity.
(Dr. Yael Hanein in her lab)
According to Hanein, this method results in more uniform neural networks; they also last longer than other artificial networks of neurons, lasting up to eleven weeks.
Fans of science fiction writer Peter Watts will look at these new brain chips, and recognize the head cheese from his 1999 novel Starfish:
Humans had always been able to integrate 3-D spatial information better than the machines that kept trying to replace them...Until now, apparently...
"It's one of those smart gels," Ray said at last... "Head cheese. Cultured brains on a slab. The same things they've been plugging into the Net to firewall infections.
(Read more about Peter Watts' head cheese)
Science marches on - but sf writers were there first.
Update 25-Jul-06: I forgot to add a reference to an earlier item - the laminated mouse brain from Cordwainer Smith's 1962 story Think Blue, Count Two.
Take a look at an article on an earlier real-life version of head cheese - Rat Neurons In A Dish Now Playing Flight Simulator. Read more about how Neurons self-organise to make brain chips.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 6/23/2006)
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 ( 3 )
Related News Stories - (" Artificial Intelligence ")
AI Note-Taking From Google Meet
'... the new typewriter that could be talked to, and which transposed the spoken sound into typed words.' - Dr. David H. Keller, 1934.
Seeing Faces On Grains Of Sand (AI Pareidolia)
'... the imprint of her image on the telephoto cell.' - Schachner and Zagat, 1931.
Virtual Rat Predicts Actual Rat Neural Activity
'..the synthetic intellects at the Place of Knowledge had far outstripped the minds of men.' - William Callahan, 1939.
WiFi and AI Team Up To See Through Walls
'The pitiless M rays pierced Earth and steel and densest concrete as if they were so much transparent glass...' - Nat Schachner, 1937.
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.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Mushroom 'Robot' Is Just A Start
'Some unknown race ... decided to help them out.'
Tesla Electric 'Giga Train' Operational In Germany
'...the cars are wedge-shaped at both ends.'
DOTPad Braille Device Offers Live Access
Amazing tactile display.
Biohybrid Robot Combines Living Muscle With Artificial Materials
'...great rectangular slabs of muscle, slung into a rectangular frame.'
Biohybrid Robots Made Of Living And Synthetic Materials
'If the biological robots were not living creatures, they were certainly very good imitations.'
Drug Induces Hibernation-Like State In Humans
'... drugged and chilled and stowed in sleep tanks.'
Poul Anderson's 'Brain Wave'
"Everybody and his dog, it seemed, wanted to live out in the country; transportation and communication were no longer isolating factors."
AI Note-Taking From Google Meet
'... the new typewriter that could be talked to, and which transposed the spoken sound into typed words.'
Qore IcePlates Are Personal Cooling Suits
'... underneath they consisted of networks of cooling tubes against the skin.'
P1 Just The Latest Robot To Take A Beating From Humans
'...we mere people come second.'
Waymo Cars Shout At Each Other, Autonomously
'My cars talk to one another. I have no doubt about it...'
Your Solar Electric Paint Is Ready, Larry Niven
'...you spray it on.'
How Long Till We Have These Tattoos?
Truth or fiction?
Seeing Faces On Grains Of Sand (AI Pareidolia)
'... the imprint of her image on the telephoto cell.'
Lunar Biorepository Proposed For Cryo-Preservation Of Earth Species
'...there was no one alive who had ever seen them. But they existed in the Life Bank.'
Tele-Driving Offers Jobs For Tele-Drivers, Not AIs
''...some bored drone pusher in a remote driving centre...'
