avad: (Default)
avad ([personal profile] avad) wrote2006-03-26 10:44 pm

Neuron Silicon Interface

Source: IST Results, March 23, 2006

"European researchers have created an interface between mammalian neurons and silicon chips. The development is a crucial first step in the development of advanced technologies that combine silicon circuits with a mammal’s nervous system.
The ultimate applications are potentially limitless. In the long term it will possibly enable the creation of very sophisticated neural prostheses to combat neurological disorders. What's more, it could allow the creation of organic computers that use living neurons as their CPU. "
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(rat neuron on chip)(YUMMY!;)

"With the help of German microchip company Infineon, NACHIP placed 16,384 transistors and hundreds of capacitors on a chip just 1mm squared in size. ....Biologically NACHIP uses special proteins found in the brain to essentially glue the neurons to the chip. These proteins act as more than a simple adhesive, however. "They also provided the link between ionic channels of the neurons and semiconductor material in a way that neural electrical signals could be passed to the silicon chip," says Vassanelli.
Once there, that signal can be recorded using the chip's transistors. What's more, the neurons can also be stimulated through the capacitors. This is what enables the two-way communications...." read the rest of the article

[identity profile] unluckymonkey.livejournal.com 2006-03-27 09:47 pm (UTC)(link)
I know I'm supposed to get excited. And I know that I'm supposed to be happy about this because I want a second set of arms to do my bidding but I find it creepy. Why? Probably the fear of control. Hmmmm... Very interesting inDEED!

[identity profile] rokkitz.livejournal.com 2006-03-28 03:18 am (UTC)(link)

sorry, i know its horrible but i couldn't resist posting this. i've been hanging on to it since 96

Tell me why...

(Anonymous) 2006-03-28 02:17 pm (UTC)(link)
I Don't Like Mondays (http://www.guntheranderson.com/v/data/idontlik.htm)

[identity profile] anztac.livejournal.com 2006-04-01 06:20 am (UTC)(link)
I think alot of the reason it feels creepy is our identity as more then "mere" machines. I'm not talking any deterministic positivism crud here, but rather that machines themselves have emergent behaviors, everything does!

I'm reading this extensively awesome book Out of Control (http://kk.org/outofcontrol/) (go figure on the name), and beyond being just a book about what's been happening in the field of Artificial Intelligence and Artificial Life, it also talks about emergence, vivisystems, group mind, ecological systems and so much more. It's freaking dense, and I'm only on the 5th chapter or so!

Anyways, I can't wait for my outter cortex to be wired up with the digital equivilant of the Akashic Libraries.