Lab-Grown "Biological Computer" Controls Aircraft Simulator

In October, 2004, the University of Florida issued a press release announcing that in a laboratory test, a neural network consisting of elements of rat brains was found to be capable of controlling a flight simulator. The experiment may herald the future development of biological computers. There are various uses for laboratory-grown living computers, according to a scientist involved in neural network experimentation.

(Excerpt)

These living neural networks are being used to pursue a variety of engineering and neurobiology research goals, said Steven Potter, an assistant professor in the Georgia Tech/Emory Department of Biomedical Engineering who uses cultured brain cells to study learning and memory. DeMarse was a postdoctoral researcher in Potter’s laboratory at Georgia Tech before he arrived at UF.

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Growing brains in laboratories used to be science fiction.

Not anymore.

See: Link.

And, according to the Los Angeles Times, the Pentagon is seeking the use of neural networks for the new F-22 Raptor.

Heady times, indeed.