[B5JMS] And so it begins???

[b5jms at cs.columbia.edu]

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From: Amy Guskin <aisling at fjordstone.com>
Date: Wed, 8 Dec 2004 07:46:39 +0000 (UTC)
Lines: 43

>>On Tue, 7 Dec 2004 23:20:41 -0500, Wendy of NJ wrote
(in article <bsccr0le6f0hooo083ccv3pcj9vvodgh6k at 4ax.com>):

> This smells a lot like "organic technology" to me...
> -Wendy
> 
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/12/07/rat_brain_flies_jet/
> 
> excerpt follows:
> 
> Rat brain flies jet
> By Robin Lettice
> Published Tuesday 7th December 2004 16:01 GMT
> Florida scientists have grown a brain in a petri dish and taught it to
> fly a fighter plane.
> 
> The "brain", grown from 25,000 neural cells extracted from a single
> rat embryo, has been taught to fly an F-22 jet simulator by scientists
> at the University of Florida. It was taught to control the flight
> path, even in mock hurricane-strength winds.
> 
> "When we first hooked them up, the plane 'crashed' all the time," Dr
> Thomas DeMarse, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at
> the University of Florida, said. "But over time, the neural network
> slowly adapts as the brain learns to control the pitch and roll of the
> aircraft. After a while, it produces a nice straight and level
> trajectory."<<

...and shrieked its red war cry, its systems beating in time with the plane's 
systems, its blood the plane's blood, all systems in perfect synchronicity, 
blah blah blah...  </cavelos paraphrase>

Having said that, that is _really_ creepy, and extremely funny, all at the 
same time.

Amy

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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Date: Wed, 8 Dec 2004 11:04:15 +0000 (UTC)
Lines: 15

>> Florida scientists have grown a rat brain in a petri dish and taught it to
>> fly a fighter plane.

And it's nearly finished selecting the new members of its cabinet....

 jms

(jmsatb5 at aol.com)
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