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Nerve Cells Successfully Grown on Silicon

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the singing-the-body-electric dept.

crabpeople writes "Researchers at the University of Calgary have found that nerve cells grown on a microchip can learn and memorize information which can be communicated to the brain. 'We discovered that when we used the chip to stimulate the neurons, their synaptic strength was enhanced,' said Naweed Syed, a neurobiologist at the University of Calgary's faculty of medicine."

13 of 284 comments (clear)

  1. Huge market? by Homology · · Score: 3, Funny
    nerve cells grown on a microchip can learn and memorize information which can be communicated to the brain.

    The researches have read some Slashdot posts, and believe that there must be a huge market for this chip. There is clearly a need for it ;-)

  2. I could use a .. by Kalroth · · Score: 3, Funny

    .. memory upgrade implant, specially in the mornings.
    It would also be cool with an encyclopedia or even a few o'reilly books implanted.

    Too bad it seems to be a one-way communication only, otherwise a spellchecker implant would be cool too :-)

  3. Catching a virus by ClaudiusMinimus · · Score: 3, Funny

    would have a whole new meaning...

  4. Re:Kinda cool by bangular · · Score: 3, Funny

    More likely it would be used to erase someone's childhood to store hundreds of GB of sex memories.

  5. very cool... by zeruch · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...but I still think Natural Stupidity will outpace Artificial (or artificially enhanced) Intelligence.

  6. In other news by NorwBlue · · Score: 4, Funny

    Ely Lilly release the new Prozac add-on for nervous cpu's

  7. This could really upset international politics by hazman · · Score: 5, Funny

    Imagine a U.S. President that is simply a marionette made of organic plasma being controlled and manipulated by puppeteers and handlers behind the curtain - stringlessly AND wirelessly.

  8. Another great steps by Xenobane · · Score: 3, Funny

    towards a virtual girlfriend.

  9. Re:Just like sci-fi. by krumms · · Score: 3, Funny

    then the guy starts to "feel" and "manipulate" things.

    I didn't know Asimov wrote THOSE kinds of books :P

  10. Sirius Cybernetics Corporation by Rassendyll · · Score: 4, Funny

    So that's how the "real people personalities" work. Guess the crowd at University of Calgary will be the first against the wall when the revolution comes!

    --
    An eye for an eye... leaves the whole world blind.
  11. I wonder by Gendhil · · Score: 5, Funny

    Who'll be the first to upload a linux distro into the brain of an actual pinguin.

  12. Re:Its the start!!! by wheresdrew · · Score: 3, Funny

    Who cares? Just so long as I can use this to learn kung-fu (or how to fly a helicopter) in less than 10 seconds.

  13. but where's the RFID? by ThePretender · · Score: 4, Funny
    'We discovered that when we used the chip to stimulate the neurons, their synaptic strength was enhanced,'

    ...and when we added the RFID, the test subjects had great futures working for Wal-Mart as they could communicate directly with the pallets of merchandise. In 2.0, the store employees will automagically know when the Gillette razors need to be restocked. :-)