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."
Rat Wireheading (Score:4, Insightful)
I notice they do not include a picture of the wireheaded rats (only an artists impression). Probably wise. While I for one believe that the advancement of science to be the greatest height to which a rat could aspire, I have a feeling that others (and possibly the rats) do not feel the same way.
Re:I for one... (Score:4, Insightful)
I for one refuse to issue the standard obligatory decades old Simpson's joke that typically accompanies a story like this one.
... out of respect to our cyber-enhanced rat overlords.
International flame-bait (Score:2, Insightful)
And I thought Brazil and the United States belonged to the same continent...
Yea, that can happen when you sleep through geography.
Or take Geography at a U.S. school.
Re:Intercontinental? (Score:2, Insightful)