So, this is really just an allegory about Minimum Viable Products, right?
How tiny wasps cope with being smaller than amoebas
21–30 of 72 posts
Re: How tiny wasps cope with being smaller than amoebas
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think we've yet to match the (information processing ability)/(energy consumption x size) ratio of wetware.
Sure, but we can fire up a room full of servers instead.
Short and consistent feedback latency is crucial for movement coordination. Think adapting to wind conditions and landing/liftoff in rough conditions.
Re: How tiny wasps cope with being smaller than amoebas
#23Wow, these little guys are incredible! I had no idea such complexity could evolve at that scale. I think these species deserve a mention in science classrooms.
Once science shows how they evolved, they will be more than welcome.
Re: How tiny wasps cope with being smaller than amoebas
#24this is rather cool but just to nitpick "one single cell" does not always imply "small" there are a few which are visible to the naked eye (think eggs)
Do you have any references for the egg thing? I have a hard time picturing that? Aren't there individual cells inside a chicken egg (before it starts developing?)
Re: How tiny wasps cope with being smaller than amoebas
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sure, but we can fire up a room full of servers instead.
Short and consistent feedback latency is crucial for movement coordination. Think adapting to wind conditions and landing/liftoff in rough conditions.
It's a virtual environment; presumably, one could set the "wall clock" rate of the sim to account for inter-room, or even inter-continental comms latencies.
Re: How tiny wasps cope with being smaller than amoebas
#26this is rather cool but just to nitpick "one single cell" does not always imply "small" there are a few which are visible to the naked eye (think eggs)
Do you have any references for the egg thing? I have a hard time picturing that? Aren't there individual cells inside a chicken egg (before it starts developing?)
No, an ostrich cell really is a single cell.
Re: How tiny wasps cope with being smaller than amoebas
#27The headline is a bit misleading, though. Amoebas seem to be just used as a reference point, where I kept expecting more salience - some adaptation of the wasp to deal specifically with the fact that it was smaller than an amoeba in particular, rather than just with the fact that it was small. Nevertheless, confusion aside, it's fascinating stuff!
Re: How tiny wasps cope with being smaller than amoebas
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well as long as you make it clear that they were created that size because God likes a challenge - rather than any sort of adaptation to their environment - that should be OK
Hmmm, downvotes. Hey Fred! Get in here, and bring the spare sensor filaments. I think we have some sarcasm detectors on the fritz. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poes_law
Even so, it's just flame-bait.
Re: How tiny wasps cope with being smaller than amoebas
#29What are the major technical barriers before we can identify the input and output channels to this insect's brain and start iterating through all possible input values, recording the corresponding output values? And once we can do that, could we use that data to fly a virtual insect around a virtual world?
This was one of my first thoughts as well, sort of. Alternatively, is it possible to model each neuron when there are only around 8k? Maybe estimate the visual, audio, and tactile bandwidth of the wasp and feed the simulated neurons a stream of simulated environmental data and just let the connections evolve.
There are not many neurons, but there are many (too many) possible connections. To find the right ones, nature took several billion years. Even with the fastest computers, it would take a considerable amount of time (note that the lifetime of these wasps is a few weeks at most, so evolution happens very fast).
Re: How tiny wasps cope with being smaller than amoebas
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you have any references for the egg thing? I have a hard time picturing that? Aren't there individual cells inside a chicken egg (before it starts developing?)
No, an ostrich cell really is a single cell. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_yolk
So are you saying the whole yolk divides in half continually to form the embryo? Is there a cell membrane around the yolk?