Scientists build a brain from rat cells...

[Corey]

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/DyeHard/story?id=198839&page=1

Corey Milner
Creative Director, Indigo Rose Software (http://www.indigorose.com)

[SUF6NEWBIE]

One of my 'relief' activities is flying Glyders..maybe I could be 'wired in'.
..I've been called a 'Rat' at times..(mainly by 'she who must be obeyed')

the weather in West Aus is getting more like it ! goody goody !
..listening to Beathoven at 9000 ft...takes some beating...
(maybe a recording of your indian flute , as the support concerto !)

..there's nothing better, for me, than to have a wedge tailed Eagle
as company..while circling a 'thermal' ..having the Eagle as Guide..

what was the name of the 'Rat' in those cartoons...

[SUF6NEWBIE]

sorry 'Intrigued' ...your flute concerto...I am a Rat...

[Corey]

"King Rat" by James Clavell is an excellent novel. Just excellent. Basil Rathbone was an actor. I was reading the errata in an opuscule about Montserrat in a trattoria the other day. I rate it as rather Socratic.

Speaking of non sequiturs. I just thought of a question. If someone who has more than one personality is a schizophrenic, what do you call someone who has half a personality? Cause I'm meeting more and more of them lately and I think we need a term. I'm thinking "Tranquiphrenic" or "Snoozapath". Possibly, "Homo Monotonous". ""... Frank Zappa said it best in his song, "Po-jama People":

FRANK ZAPPA - "Po-Jama People"

Some people's hot
Some people's cold
Some people's not very
Swift to behold
Some people do it
Some see right through it
Some wear pyjamas
If only they knew it

The pyjama people are boring me to pieces
Feel like I am wasting my time
They all got flannel up 'n down 'em
A little trap-door back aroun' 'em
An' some cozy little footies on their mind

Po-jama people!
Po-jama people, people!
They sure do make you sleepy
With the things they might say
Po-jama people!
Po-jama people, people!
Mother Mary 'n Jozuf, I wish they'd all go away!

Po-jama people!
It's a po-jama people special . . .
Take one home with you, save a dollar today
Po-jama people!
Po-jama people, people!
Wrap 'em up
Roll 'em out
Get 'em out of my way
Hein nya-nya-hein nya-nya-hein nya-nya-hein
HOEY! HOEY! HOEY!
Wrap 'em up
Roll 'em out
Get 'em out of my way
Hein nya-nya-hein nya-nya-hein nya-nya-hein
HOEY! HOEY! HOEY!
Wrap 'em up
Roll 'em out
Get 'em out of my way
Hein nya-nya-hein nya-nya-hein nya-nya-hein
HOEY! HOEY! HOEY!

(Well . . . ) now some people's hot
An' some people's cold
(Well, Lawd . . . ) an' some people's not very
(Very) swift to behold (swifty!)
(I told you) some people do it (do it!)
(Yes, they do!) (No . . . )
Some see right through it
(See right through it!)
An' some wear PO-JAMAS
If only they knew it

The pyjama people are boring me to pieces
They make me feel like I am wasting my time
They all got flannel up 'n down 'em
A little trap-door back aroun' 'em
An' some cozy little footies on their mind

Po-jama people!
Po-jama people, people!
Lawd, they make you sleepy
With the things they might say (hey, yeah-hey . . . )
Po-jama people!
(Well . . . now) Po-jama people, people!
(I said) ARF! ARF! ARF!
I wish they'd all go away!

Po-jama people! (People!) (Oh, yeah)
Po-jama people special . . .
(I said, I said, I said)
Take one home with you, & save a dollar today
Po-jama people!
(It's a) Po-jama people, people! (Special)
Wrap 'em up
An' roll 'em out
Get 'em out of my way
HOEY! HOEY! HOEY!
Wrap 'em up
An' roll 'em out
Get 'em out of my way
HOEY! HOEY! HOEY!
Wrap 'em up
Roll 'em out
Get 'em out of my way
HOEY! HOEY! HOEY!

(YEAH-HA-HA!)

Corey Milner
Creative Director, Indigo Rose Software (http://www.indigorose.com)

[SUF6NEWBIE]

Song Rewrite: find Pro-jama and replace with Pro-rata

[JimS]

It’s interesting stuff, but it sounds like Lee Dye, the author, has spent too much time listening to Bill Joy, and re-watching the Terminator. Cyborg thugs powered by slivers of rat brain, are about to exterminate humankind! Give me a break.

The article is labeled a commentary, but it seems to be exceedingly misleading and sensationalized, especially when considering the source. An article by ABC News is written for people with 6th grade reading skills, and a solid third grade level understanding of science and critical thinking. In other words, the average adult.

What scares me, is that like most of the people who come to this forum, my understanding of science is a little higher than that. This is a topic that I’m able to see the sensationalism in. What about commentaries on other topics? There are plenty of topics that I’m as dumb as a post about. How am I the reader, going to be able to separate the facts, from the adolescent fantasy’s of the author, in ‘news’ stories, about topics I’m less familiar with? It sure seems like the major news sources have become more interested in trying to paint the biggest picture, rather than trying to deliver the most accurate one. News Nouveau, I hope it’s just a phase.

I suppose that this was the type of sensationalism that Tom DeMarse was after. Hooking his petri dish up to the rudder and elevator controls of an F22 simulator, lends to much better headlines than if he were to use more traditional devices to measure neural activity. That’s the real stroke of genius, illustrated in the story as far as I’m concerned. I would guess that the life of a research scientist, might be similar to the life of a politician, in that they must always be looking for enough funding to get through the next two years. I imagine headlines help in that department.

The underlying science is interesting, from both biological and computational perspectives. Biologically, the more we learn about the actual mechanics, and workings of neurons and biomechanical interfaces, the better. It’s a lot easier to fix something, if you know how it works.

I don’t think that it has been proven yet, though Thinking Machines TM gave it a good go, but I believe, as many others do, that neural networks, and perhaps massive parallelism are key to moving computational speed to the next level, both in terms of hardware and software. For me it’s an easy call, it appears to be the way that Mother Nature favors. She’s been doing it for an awful long time, and is quite good at it. So, it seems like a safe bet to me.

I’m wondering if DeMarse has provided a ‘breadboard’ with a simple demonstration circuit. A good platform for hardware architects and programmers to better understand how Mother Nature does it.

On the other hand, let’s not forget that Mother Nature has design a large n8umber of highly successful critters with no brains at all.

It will be interesting to see where this leads.