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Hybrid Robot Uses Rat Brain
CowboyRobot writes "After two recent stories of artificial brains used to control rats and one about MIT doing the reverse, NYTimes now has a piece on similar work done at Georgia Tech From the article:
"...the layer of rat neurons is grown over an array of electrodes that pick up the neurons' electrical activity. A computer analyzes the activity of the several thousand brain cells in real time to detect spikes produced by neurons firing near an electrode." But this time you can buy one for $3,000."
Who knew they were transplanting rat brains into aibo robot dogs!
Back in the day, we used to talk about robots. But for us, it was always a frightening thing. Then saturday night live did a commercial about robots stealing our medicine! Believe you me, THAT had me scared for a while! I know it was satire, but it's not hard to imagine robots living off the powerful medicines we old people use!
Not that this isn't cool and all, but:
I don't want to be around when this thing becomes aware enough to take retribution for countless generations of lab rat torture! Someone will stumble into the lab and find a scientist's brain wired into a speak-n-spell, with a rat-bot-shaped hole in the wall and a trail of cheese crumbs...
Orkin in Very Intrested..... Just think program 3 rats to invade a house. and then just wait for the phone call to get rid of the rats get paid and have the rats move next door.....
Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large numbers.
How do they keep the nerve cells alive? Are they actually fed, oxygenated, and protected from infection?
What the hell do these people target rats that much ? don't mice do the trick too ?
Rats have much larger brains and visual pathways than do mice, so surgery and implants of bionic and biological devices is spatially easier. The advantage that mice have right now is the genetic resources and databases that currently are not available to the same extent as for rats.
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They are only using female rats for this experiment. If they use male rats the report would probably look something like
....
Monday morning
Robot tried too shag other robots
Monday afternoon
Robot refused to move from candy vending machine
Monday evening
Robot tried too shag other robots
Tuesday morning
Robot tried too shag other robots
Since when does having a better chance at being selected for a science experiment that will probably kill you count as an "advantage?"
I have seen this guy give a talk every year for 5 years. He always says the same thing "we are close to observing something here." The truth is that no one has a clue whether he will ever see anything in these cultures that is meaningful. These are dissociated cells that are living in a culture dish. The laminar structure that the hippocampus has is destroyed in this process. It would be like throwing a bunch of wires together and hoping to come up with a few logic gates. It is all hype right now. The neurons are not "controlling" the robot at all - the neurons have yet to show any organized activity. Even if they did - would you know what it meant??? I would be very surprised if this ever worked in its current incarnation...