 |
 |
At 02:48 PM 2000/06/17 -0300, Joao Carvalho <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >Hey folks , how about this : > >From the New York Times. June 15, 2000 > >Team Links Brain Cells With a Robot > >By DANIEL SORID > >In another triumph of the scientific imagination, researchers have created >a fish on wheels. Actually, they took part of the brain of a lamprey, an >aquatic parasite, and connected it to a mobile robot, producing what they >call an "artificial animal." > >It was the first time, researchers said, that animal brain cells and a robot >had communicated in two directions. > >In findings that will be presented at an artificial-life conference this >summer, Dr. Sandro Mussa-Ivaldi, an associate professor at the Northwestern >University Medical School, and a team of researchers from universities in >the United States and Italy say that they were able to control the motion >of a two-wheeled robot by connecting it to the brain stem of the sea lamprey. > >The scientists removed the lamprey's brain stem and part of its spinal cord >and placed them in a salt solution. > >Electrodes were then attached to the brain stem and connected to the robot. >The lamprey's brain cells received a signal from light sensors in the robot, >and the cells sent signals back to the robot. > >Depending on the placement of the electrode on the brain tissue, the robot >moved toward or away from the light, or in a circle. > >The aim of the research is to untangle the mysteries of brain signals and to >see how the brain's circuits change and adapt to different stimuli. The method, >however, is unquestionably eerie. "It has echoes of a literary kind," Dr. >Mussa-Ivaldi admitted. > >Linking a life form and a machine may make some people squirm, but Dr. >Mussa-Ivaldi insists that the system may have practical benefits, like better >prosthetic devices for humans. "Our goal is not to construct a cyborg," he >said. "Our goal is to create a tool that will hopefully help us understand >how the brain works." > >Steve Grand, the chief executive of Cyberlife Research, a British research >and development company that is trying to create forms of synthetic life, >agreed. Mr. Grand said work by Dr. Mussa-Ivaldi and others who study the >interactions between living creatures and machines could be justified by >its potential benefits. > >"People are sometimes fearful that artificial life research will reduce us >all to machines and explain away our souls," he said. "On the contrary, I >believe it will give us a new understanding and a new respect for ourselves, >as the most sublime machines in the known universe." >-- >Cheers, >Joao Paulo - Salvador,BA,Brazil i love it! thank you, joao paulo janet marie janet paterson 53 now / 41 dx / 37 onset 613 256 8340 / PO Box 171 Almonte Ontario K0A 1A0 Canada visit my website "a new voice" at: "http://www.geocities.com/janet313/"