Rat-Brained Robots Take Their First Steps

missb writes "Brain tissue cultured from rats has controlled a wheeled robot around a lab, according to New Scientist this week. Researchers in the UK have harnessed signals from thousands of disembodied rat neurons, and manipulated them to get a robot to respond to instructions. The team at the University of Reading in the UK hope their research will help provide treatments for diseases like Alzheimer's and epilepsy."

Comments

That outcome is very much exaggerated.

[Futurepower(R)]

"The team at the University of Reading in the UK hope their research will help provide treatments for diseases like Alzheimer's and epilepsy."

That outcome is very much exaggerated, apparently to try to get more attention. Any such result would depend on other huge advancements not yet made.

What was that sound?

[Red Flayer]

It was the whoosh of grant money going down the drain.

This work will hopefully contribute to our knowledge of how brains work, but its potential should not be exaggerated, says Potter. "This system is a model. Everything it does is merely similar to what goes on in a brain, it's not really the same thing. We can learn about the brain - but it may mislead us."

What? Is he serious, making a statement like that? Does he think grants grow on trees, that he can so blithely disregard the opportunity for sensationalistic coverage and the resultant exposure to those who issue private grants? Sure, Alzheimer's is mentioned, which is a nice hook, but he needs to make ridiculous claims in order to break through the wall of grant-deniers.

Sheesh. What is the academic world coming to, that they make responsible statements regarding their research?

Re:Obligatory..

[XxtraLarGe]

What exactly would robots with rat brains want to do, since they can't do any of their natural biological functions?

It's Kevin Warwick.

[gedhrel]

Hugely inflated claims? From Captain Cyborg? To generate press attention?

Film, as they say, at eleven.

Re:What in the...

[Red Flayer]

Am I the only one who fails to see how these rodent zombie robots have anything to do with Alzheimer's?

Perhaps you could try RTFAing, then applying some logical thought.

They're studying how disassociated nerons make new connections and can be trained to reliably respond to stimuli, and how that response can be used to create predictable behavior.

Now go ahead STFW for the pathophysiology of Alzheimers, and it's pretty easy to see how this could be useful in understanding Alzheimers, and perhaps in (eventually, with a lot of steps inbetween) help either prevent it, delay its onset, or reverse it.

Cool name

[wcrowe]

"Rat-Brained Robots" would make a good name for a punk band.

Re:Rat-Brained overlords

[colmore]

Does anyone else out there take science fiction just a *little* bit seriously and think that some of the robotics innovations over the past 10 or 15 years might be a little bit dangerous?

AI is actually a little bit impressive, there just isn't a market for it yet.

Where have all the good people gone?

[OxFF52]

I found this article... then checked Slashdot.

Where have all the intelligent slashdotters gone? Let's all STOP trying to come up with the funniest one-liner and talk about the subject at hand here.

They have taken brain cells and taught them to control a robot. This is simply freakin' astounding!

What else has been done related to this such as MEMS? Anyone?

Re:What in the...

[Red Flayer]

Well, the robot in this case performs two functions: one is to provide the stimuli, one is to measure the response. It's a machine capable of locomotion.

The reason for the bluetooth is because the braincell broth needs to be maintained at a certain temperature and kept stable, and wireless is probably the best way to make sure the robot doesn't damage the brain cells or upset their alignment, say by jerking on an electrode tether.

I see your point, it does seem awfully gimmicky... but the nice thing about it is that it is modular. Their "sensory" system can be swapped out easily for additonal experiments.