Just spotted this over at /. (http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/10/24/0024241)Scientists at the University of Florida made a living 'brain' by extracting 25,000 neurons from a rat's brain and culturing them inside a glass dish. Then, the neurons began to extend lines to each other, creating a living neural network between them. The dish had a grid of 60 electrodes connected to a computer running a flight simulator. The scientists were able to train the 'brain' to control the plane in the simulator and to react to conditions of the plane. Are we getting closer to create an artificially made conscious being, or perhaps, a living computer?More info:
http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,65438,00.html
http://www.napa.ufl.edu/2004news/braindish.htm