What will they think of next?

Somewhere in Florida, 25,000 disembodied rat neurons are thinking about flying an F-22.

Dammit... and to think the company I used to work for wasted millions of taxpayers' dollars on electronics!



Still, I think that is pretty damned cool. I read another article a while back about scientists implanting electrodes into rats' brains, which simulated the stimulus the rats felt when their whiskers touched something. The result was a fairly decently remote-controllable live rat that returned basically to normal when the "remote" was turned off. The evil genious part of me laughs maniacally with the possibilities!

i think it sucks.

i mean, i'm all for research to help cure diseases and shit, but....

gimme a fucking break.


don't mind me...maybe i just need to watch Project X and cry myself to sleep again...

I think it sucks too -- I think that you could use artificial neural networks (on a computer) just as successfully for this.

If I didn't, I wouldn't have tried to get a PhD on the subject of robot control optimisation using artificial neural networks (for the record: I failed to get funding because of a number of issues and bad timing).

Six, you are indeed a sicko.

This is just a continuation of the Military's thought control experiments. The idea is for pilots, tank drivers,ect. to be able to put on a helmet and thier thoughts will control thier vehicles.

What's wrong with that?
As long as it's a one-way thought control, i.e., the thoughts control the machine, and not the other way around.

Think of the possibilities for people who are quadrapelgic, etc.

But then I couldn't have millions of rat brains doing my bidding.
Moohoowhaa ha hahahaaccckkcoughoh.

As if you needed any proof by now.

If you were liquor, you'd be at least 140 proof.

ohhhhh my bad.

i guess i didn't get the memo describing the military's new practice of hiring quadrapelgics to fly their planes.

Tantric Drinking day, Kirk?

I don't know about them flying planes, but they're sure fun to push out of 'em.

Quadriplegics, that is.

I wrote that especially for you, sicko.

Now please show up at LF05, you insensitive bastard.

Wiring rat neurons to operate vehicles might be a challenge, but wiring them to work as lawyers would be a natural transition.

Exactly! From what I read this could be used to power an exo-skeleton so people can move on thier own again. Kinda like real life catching up to comic books!!!

...or politicians (especially the red ones).

Nah, they're controlled by the aliens at Roswell. Everyone knows that!

One-way control would be pretty crappy- you need feedback. If you are driving a plane or a tank with your brains, you need to be able to feel your rudder position, or whether your turret is pointed at the target or just lying there all flaccid.

Otherwise you may as well just drive the damn thing normally- shorter response times and more finesse in control are the benefits to militarising such a technology.

Nuthin' worse than a flaccid turret.

Right, Smuttty?

They aren’t trying to make this a remote control operation. They are making these artificial brains that will be able to learn whatever you teach it.
This is just like a real brain; it will make new connections between neurons on its own.

Then it will do whatever it is taught without interference from outside distractions, free will, conscience, etc.

Hmm... isn't there a danger that it could develope those other interferences as it becomes more complex?

What's the life span on these brains?



Agreed. How weird to be able to "feel" the machine.

I still think this has far better applications for people with disabilities than it does for the military, but hey, since we're flinging money at the military like mad these days, can't I at least hope that something good will come of it?

There are plenty of uses besides the military. That is just a starting point since it seems to be able to control a jet as if the jet is its body.

Once they understand more about the interactions of the neurons, new uses will be thought of every day. Right now they are still trying to figure out how it works.

Basic (as opposed to applied) research is valuable. The goal is to understand neural networks. That certainly has implications for dysfunctional networks (e.g. disabled people) as well as functional ones (we know about one rat's knuckle about how that two pound loaf in your head works).

Rat neurons posting in this forum, evidently.

Word up, avian.

Sorry, this can already be acomplished by a computer. The idea is to quicken reaction times and to improve data uptake!

Actually, no. With a computer someone still has to write the program. With a clump of neurons, you stimulate one or two of them and they form their own connections. They in essence write their own program based on stimulus. This is quite different from how a computer works.

I remember some experimant last year where they used some slug parts as a circuit in a computerized gizmo. I think in the future we'll see more bio-cyber technology (though there may be ethical issues). In the mean time our shit-for-brains leaders might benefit from some rat brain implants.

this whole discussion reminds me of how they got Reggie Jackson to turn into an assassin.

But he failed to kill the Queen.
That proves this technology isn't fully developed yet.

it's still in its infant stages, but still very scary.

they got dimebag darell....

This doesn’t sound like a military experiment at all. I suspect if it was, we wouldn’t be hearing much about it. He is using a flight sim on a home PC as his simulator, not a real F22 or a military grade simulator.

Actually, having rat neurons fly a fighter plane would be pretty goddamn silly.

If you want them to be better at it than a human pilot, then you have to make them very complex. Creativity is essential- predictability would mean the enemy, using human pilots, would blow your little rat brains right out.

To do that, you will end up with a massive amount of neurons, formed into what we call a 'brain.'

You will have spent trillions to develop something you already own, and having a computer neural net do it comes out to the same thing.

This isn't cool cause they flew a plane. It's cool because we are one step closer to me getting a giant robot body (with lasers and maybe the ability to transform into a fighter jet) as well as being able to upload myself into other hardware.

And, y'know, rule the world and whatnot. At least until the ultra-violent but fighting-for-a-good-cause leading man or lady takes me out by pusing the big red self destruct button I forgot not to have installed.

I'ma be all 'Dave... I wouldn't do that Dave.... daisy daisy...'

Uh...remember this li'l feller?

Okay, apparently DaRabbit does!

(Must learn to read all posts in thread before posting...*@#!)

True dat. This specific experiment is being conducted at a university, but the military is still interested in the results. Jets and tanks being controlled by rat brains have fewer human casualties when they blow up.

The military isn’t the only one interested in how the brain communicates. Once this language is cracked, you will be able to upload/download your "self" into another apparatus. Now you can give memories to that clone you have floating in a jar...

There are hundreds of good uses for such technology, as well as hundreds of evil uses for it. It seems inevitable that someone will use this to create an army of zombies to do their bidding.

I think they made a movie about that. "Attack of the Crones" or some such.


Oh, wait. That was the documentary about Cher and Charo's joint world tour.

It's been done. They call it "Congress."

Didn't someone use Budweiser to do that?

But they would save so much time if they could just upload selected memories into a host body instead of spending years brainwashing them.

They're not 'brainwashed" (though the electorate may be), they're opportunistic scum, with very few exceptions.

Though the idea of "uploading" oneself could create a kind of immortality, the interaction between our biology and our personality would make the uploaded you a bit different than the physical you. Our bodies are really connected to our brains.

True, there would be complications in uploading one's self into a new body. The brain would take time to form all the connections it needs to "copy" the old brain.

Prol, please attend to your placement of political poo, dear.

To the whole thread. You funny fucks were on a roll. Not just you this time Rimmy, but everybody.