Rat "Brain" Flies "Plane"

Excerpts:

Somewhere in Florida, 25,000 disembodied rat neurons are thinking about flying an F-22.

These neurons are growing on top of a multi-electrode array and form

a living "brain" that’s hooked up to a flight simulator on a desktop

computer. When information on the simulated aircraft’s horizontal and

vertical movements are fed into the brain by stimulating the

electrodes, the neurons fire away in patterns that are then used to

control its "body" — the simulated aircraft.

Currently the brain has learned enough to be able to control the

pitch and roll of the simulated F-22 fighter jet in weather conditions

ranging from blue skies to hurricane-force winds. Initially the

aircraft drifted, because the brain hadn’t figured out how to control

its "body," but over time the neurons learned to stabilize the aircraft

to a straight, level flight.

"Right now the process it’s learning is very simplistic," said

DeMarse. "It’s basically making a decision about whether to move the

stick to the left or to the right or forwards and backwards and it

learns how much to push the stick depending upon how badly the aircraft

is flying."

The bigger goal is to figure out how neurons talk to each other. MRI

scans, for example, show millions of neurons firing together. At that

resolution, it is impossible to see what’s happening between individual

neurons. While scientists can study neural activities from groups of

cells in a dish, they can’t watch them learn and grow as they would

within a living body unless the neurons have some kind of body to

interact with.

By taking these cells and giving them back a "body," the researchers

hope to uncover how the neurons communicate with each other and

eventually translate that knowledge to develop novel computing

architecture.

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And this just in from UNIVERSE TODAY:

In related news, EarthForce defense contractors announced

project aimed at creating a powerful "shadow" warship using a human

being as its central processing unit.

"We’re very excited about the new shadow ship," said Gen. Wink

Tinkley of EarthForce. "Using a human being as the CPU means a lot more

computing than a simulated rat brain has. The only problem we’ve found

is that telepaths can interfere with the human’s neural connection with

the ship."

EarthForce contractors also announced the creation of an even more

ambitious program which will allow a detachable human as a ship’s CPU.

When perfect, this pilot program will allow humans who pilot such

ships–known as "pilots"–to live normal lives by being extracted from

their ships at the end of missions.