LiveScience - by Arislyn on 10:12 10 Feb 2005
I thought I would post this link for all of you science news junkies: LiveScience.
They've got some pretty cool stuff over there. This morning, I was reading their "Science of Fiction" section and they were talking about a scientist who has gotten rat brain cells to grow over some electrodes. It's then attached to a flight simulation program on the PC. They say that at the beginning, the plane would sort of coast along but, now, the brain-in-a-dish can control flight patterns even in high winds.
I thought I would post this link for all of you science news junkies: LiveScience.
They've got some pretty cool stuff over there. This morning, I was reading their "Science of Fiction" section and they were talking about a scientist who has gotten rat brain cells to grow over some electrodes. It's then attached to a flight simulation program on the PC. They say that at the beginning, the plane would sort of coast along but, now, the brain-in-a-dish can control flight patterns even in high winds.
LiveScience - by NoonChild on 07:22 11 Feb 2005
I didn't actually find this article on the site but it sounds really freaky - does this mean that collections of rat brain cells have "intensions" ie I want this flight simulation to be succesfull so I shall learn how to control it. If so then existentialists would say it is a consciousness (intentionality being the marker of consciousness in their view).
I got distracted by their top ten of vestigial organs. Love all that crazy stuff. Makes you realise just how loooooooong the past is, I mean all that time it took to evolve land mammals and then some of them evolve back again in to sea dwelling creatures like whales. Millions and millions and millions (you get the picture) of years.
I didn't actually find this article on the site but it sounds really freaky - does this mean that collections of rat brain cells have "intensions" ie I want this flight simulation to be succesfull so I shall learn how to control it. If so then existentialists would say it is a consciousness (intentionality being the marker of consciousness in their view).
I got distracted by their top ten of vestigial organs. Love all that crazy stuff. Makes you realise just how loooooooong the past is, I mean all that time it took to evolve land mammals and then some of them evolve back again in to sea dwelling creatures like whales. Millions and millions and millions (you get the picture) of years.