Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Melbourne startup launches 'biological computer' made of human brain cells

abc.net.au

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–39 of 39 posts

Re: Melbourne startup launches 'biological computer' made of human brain cells

#31

Post by Imustaskforhelp »

What I really found interesting was that you could create neurons from blood & connect them together ?

I am not a biologist but I am wondering , can we create something like an immortal neuron ? I know that there are these water pigs / tardigrades which are very small and they look cute , can such tardigrades like organic matter be used for things like neuron , and also I am wondering. Can we really take a exact copy of these biological computers in terms of storage / data ? That way biological computers can still be conserved forever ?

Re: Melbourne startup launches 'biological computer' made of human brain cells

#32

Post by Imustaskforhelp »

Imustaskforhelp wrote: post #31

What I really found interesting was that you could create neurons from blood & connect them together ? I am not a biologist but I am wondering , can we create something like an immortal neuron ? I know that there are these water pigs / tardigrades which are very small and they look cute , can such tardigrades like organic matter be used for things like neuron , and also I am wondering. Can we really take a exact copy…

I just found out starfish don't have a brain .... This is so fascinating

Re: Melbourne startup launches 'biological computer' made of human brain cells

#33

Post by Imustaskforhelp »

Imustaskforhelp wrote: post #32
Imustaskforhelp wrote: post #31

What I really found interesting was that you could create neurons from blood & connect them together ? I am not a biologist but I am wondering , can we create something like an immortal neuron ? I know that there are these water pigs / tardigrades which are very small and they look cute , can such tardigrades like organic matter be used for things like neuron , and also I am wondering. Can we really take a exact copy…

I just found out starfish don't have a brain .... This is so fascinating

Starfish, also known as sea stars, do not have a brain in the traditional sense. Instead, they possess a nerve net that allows them to function and respond to stimuli. This nerve net is a distributed system of slow neurons that operate more like a simple computer program rather than a complex brain

So starfish are also like this.

Also out of topic but

I had also seen this muscle robot the other day combine this here with this and it can be absolutely nuts

Re: Melbourne startup launches 'biological computer' made of human brain cells

#34

Post by Snoo7654 »

geor9e wrote: post #8
Loughla wrote: post #2

I understand it's early days, but that is horrifying.

At long last, we have created the Torment Nexus from classic sci-fi novel Don't Create The Torment Nexus

Arggg sounded like it was about to be a killer book, alas a good meme though

Re: Melbourne startup launches 'biological computer' made of human brain cells

#35

Post by namaria »

MattPalmer1086 wrote: post #30
odyssey7 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine that every individual cell is conscious, and that consciousness is a binary quality.

Ok. So the brain cell is individually conscious. Won't be conscious of much, it has no sense organs. Just lost in its own thoughts?

That's pretty much how it felt when I experienced an ego death on mushrooms. My sense of self shattered and I could feel that I was emerging from a deep resonance in the consciousness of my cells.

Re: Melbourne startup launches 'biological computer' made of human brain cells

#36

Post by addicted »

etrautmann wrote: post #13
ASalazarMX wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> hundreds of thousands of live human brain cells A human brain has like six orders of magnitude more cells than that chip. A single ant has 250,000 neurons. A crow brain has 1,500,000,000. I don't think we have to worry yet.

But how would you know? With a patient who has locked-in syndrome they can sense and think but have no ability to move or communicate. How could you tell if your fish brain (or future AI model) has the capacity to think or suffer?

You’re worried about a “brain” that has orders of magnitude fewer neurons than an ant but in the meanwhile we birth, enslave, sexually abuse, torture and kill over 80 billion land animals that definitely have conscience, sentience and a capacity to suffer.

I do appreciate the concern. It’s very valid but unfortunately pales relative to awful atrocities we humans are enacting everyday in the billions.

Re: Melbourne startup launches 'biological computer' made of human brain cells

#38

Post by odyssey7 »

MattPalmer1086 wrote: post #30
odyssey7 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine that every individual cell is conscious, and that consciousness is a binary quality.

Ok. So the brain cell is individually conscious. Won't be conscious of much, it has no sense organs. Just lost in its own thoughts?

Perhaps nerve endings within "sense organs" offer a level of abstraction in propagating information to a consciousness somewhere else.

Consider happiness. Possibly a cell feels happy when there's plenty of energy and its cellular processes are working well. Possibly it feels something else leading up to apoptosis.

Post reply on HN