Scientists grow mini human brains to power computers

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy7p1lzvxjro

77 points · 35 comments · view on lemmy.world

35 Comments

Sendpicsofsandwiches@sh.itjust.works · 50 pts · 331d (15 replies)

Oh good! Technological horrors beyond my comprehension

floofloof@lemmy.ca · 51 pts · 331d (14 replies)

They're not mini human brains though. They're little clusters of cells. The BBC's headline is deliberately (and irresponsibly) provocative and misleading.

TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 331d (12 replies)

so brains, but smaller

floofloof@lemmy.ca · 13 pts · 331d

Not really. Brain cells, but not in a brain.

Beacon@fedia.io · 12 pts · 331d (10 replies)

A human brain isn't just a lump of brain cells, it's an exquisitely intricate assemblage of brain cells in very precisely organized networks that perform very specific functions. Without the organization, the same number of brain cells are not a brain

Catoblepas@piefed.blahaj.zone · 10 pts · 331d (6 replies)

We flat out do not understand consciousness. There was a case of a guy living a normal life while missing 90% of his brain. Who knows how many undocumented cases there are or what the limits are? Until we understand whether or not we’re creating consciousness and the nature of it, we shouldn’t be fucking around with anything that could wind up being conscious in any capacity that exists only as a part of a machine.

daq@lemmy.sdf.org · 1 pts · 331d (4 replies)

Why not? I think it's only a concern if the consciousness is aware of alternatives. Plenty of conscious creatures live an awesome life while comprehending maybe 5% of wtf is going on around them.

Most people don't wake up every day depressed that they weren't born in the future with awesome tech around them. Would be nice, but hardly an existential crisis imo.

RogueBanana@piefed.zip · 4 pts · 331d (3 replies)

Bruh that's like saying abuse is fine if they never see the light. It's still conscious that WILL be used like a slave in our capitalistic hell scape.

daq@lemmy.sdf.org · 1 pts · 331d

Not really. A child is perfectly happy forever playing a basic game like arranging something by size, color, etc., but to a fully developed adult that is boring at best and torture if they were forced to do it.

SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 329d

No one was leading a normal life missing 90% of their brain.

RogueBanana@piefed.zip · 0 pts · 331d (2 replies)

I would call a mobile a mini pc even if the architecture is different. Let's not be pedantic about it.

Beacon@fedia.io · 4 pts · 331d (1 reply)

It's not pedantic, your analogy isn't even close. The analogy would be if you had a pile of unconnected transistors

RogueBanana@piefed.zip · 2 pts · 330d

That is exactly being pedantic. Nobody is concerned about the state right now but the end goal here. It is a fully functional brain that can be on par with the real counterpart. If you support this research, do you also support psycho pass kinda shit as well? Because that's exactly where this is going.

SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 329d

What the fuck has happened to the BBC? Last week they had huge headlines about a "cure" for Huntington's disease which was nothing but hyping a drug company press release that was no where near reality.

Archangel1313@lemmy.ca · 21 pts · 331d (5 replies)

This is what the Matrix should have been about.

clucose@lemmy.ml · 11 pts · 331d (1 reply)

Finally we can live in the 90s again.

Archangel1313@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 331d

Arguably, the best decade we had.

billwashere@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 9 pts · 331d (1 reply)

Fucking batteries?!?! This makes so much more sense.

toynbee@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 331d

Allegedly it was originally about basically this, but they dumbed it down to be about batteries for fear of audiences of the time not understanding.

Maeve@kbin.earth · 1 pts · 331d

Maybe they needed more energy and manipulate the brain cells to grow humans.

swab148@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 14 pts · 331d

Can you not?

Erasmus@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 331d
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tunetardis@piefed.ca · 9 pts · 331d (1 reply)

I read somewhere that when they were envisioning the storyline for The Matrix, the original idea was supposed to be that human grey matter powered it in a computational sense. This kind of tracks, given the brain can perform outstanding feats running at a measly 20 watts or whatever it is, but somehow the story got distorted into its eventual form in which the human body is acting as a grossly inefficient battery.

dev_null@lemmy.ml · 7 pts · 331d

And it would explain why Neo is able to modify the Matrix: it's partly running inside his head.

But no, it's an urban legend, it was supposed to be batteries from the first draft.

TheBat@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 331d (3 replies)
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ArgentRaven@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 331d

If it's not now, it will be in a few years. I can't wait for the shocking reveal in 10 years that we've been using fully grown brains in everything.

spittingimage@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 331d

In the same way you've enslaved your liver and lungs, sure.

_cryptagion@anarchist.nexus · 1 pts · 281d
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Auli@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 331d (1 reply)

Isn't this how alita got her brain?

edgemaster72@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 331d

mini brain, mega eyes

SlartyBartFast@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 330d (3 replies)

I always knew it would end with this

SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 329d (2 replies)

Wait until you guys find out where hamburgers and chicken wings come from.

HubertManne@piefed.social · 2 pts · 281d (1 reply)

mini human brains grown in a lab?

Kolanaki@pawb.social · 1 pts · 281d

It's mini human brains grown in a lab all the way down!

SkabySkalywag@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 330d

Omnissiah by praised, a new servitors is here!

njm1314@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 331d

Future Generations, if there are any, will refer to this as the beginning of the end.