Intercontinental Mind-Meld Unites Two Rats 176
ananyo writes "The brains of two rats on different continents have been made to act in tandem. When the first, in Brazil, uses its whiskers to choose between two stimuli, an implant records its brain activity and signals to a similar device in the brain of a rat in the United States. The U.S. rat then usually makes the same choice on the same task. Miguel Nicolelis, a neuroscientist at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, says that this system allows one rat to use the senses of another, incorporating information from its far-away partner into its own representation of the world. 'It's not telepathy. It's not the Borg,' he says. 'But we created a new central nervous system made of two brains.' Nicolelis says that the work, published today, is the first step towards constructing an organic computer that uses networks of linked animal brains to solve tasks. But other scientists who work on neural implants are skeptical."
What are we going to do today, Brain? (Score:5, Funny)
Oh c'mon Pinky, you already know, you DMA'd it from me 250nS ago.
Sex (Score:2, Funny)
This idea has some interesting real-world applications
1. Sex
???
???
4. Profit
Re:Intercontinental? (Score:5, Funny)
And I thought Brazil and the United States belonged to the same continent...
Yea, that can happen when you sleep through geography.
I want to know the protocol. (Score:5, Funny)
Clearly we need an RFC for the Brain-To-Brain-Interface Protocol.
Hopefully it'll be built on top of SSL. I don't want someone hacking into my rats.
Rats with One Mind (Score:5, Funny)
I hate to break it to the researchers, but getting a pack of rats to operate under the same collective consciousness has been done before [americanbar.org]
Pinky and the Brain (Score:2, Funny)
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Pinky?"
"Actually, yes, Brain; for once, I am. *narf* *poit*"
My body and mind is ready. (Score:2, Funny)
To be permanently wired to a porn-star.