Brains of rats connected allowing them to share information via internet

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Brains of rats connected allowing them to share information via internet

Ian Sample, science correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 28 February 2013 15.05 GMT

Scientists have connected the brains of a pair of animals and allowed them to share sensory information in a major step towards what the researchers call the world's first "organic computer".

The US team fitted two rats with devices called brain-to-brain interfaces that let the animals collaborate on simple tasks to earn rewards, such as a drink of water.

In one radical demonstration of the technology, the scientists used the internet to link the brains of two rats separated by thousands of miles, with one in the researchers' lab at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and the other in Natal, Brazil.

Led by Miguel Nicolelis, a pioneer of devices that allow paralysed people to control computers and robotic arms with their thoughts, the researchers say their latest work may enable multiple brains to be hooked up to share information.

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Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/feb/28/brains-rats-connected-share-information

[Scuba]

1. Not new. Ever heard of Breitbart dot com? The Blaze? Free Republic?

[eppur_se_muova]

2. Hmmm ... nothing could go wrong here ...

In early-21st-century Amsterdam, Manfred receives a call on a courier-delivered phone from entities claiming to be a net-based AI working for KGB.ru, seeking his help on how to defect. Eventually, he discovers the callers are actually uploaded brain-scans of the California spiny lobster looking to escape from humanity's interference. Driven by his commitment to agalmic economics, he manages to team them up with entrepreneur Bob Franklin, who is looking for an AI to crew his nascent spacefaring project—the building of a self-replicating factory complex from cometary material. A legal precedent is established that will help define the rights of future AIs and uploaded minds. Later, Manfred's predatory fiancée Pamela forces him to impregnate and marry her in an attempt to control him.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerando_%28novel%29#Characters