Researchers in the Säo Paulo University’s Physics Department have successfully connected a group of 11 neurons from a blue crab’s mouth parts to a computer, allowing them to control the movements of the crabs mouth parts via electrical signals. By learning more about how to replicate the function of the crustaceans’ neurons, the researchers hope to be able to someday build a giant, samba-dancing, capoira-kicking robotic crab walker with which to impose a Brazilian dominance over the entirety of mankind. Or they want to build prosthetic arms for humans; I forget which.[Gizmodo]
I wonder whether there will be musical groups in the future who will be able to plug each member into some kind of matrix that will enable them to do “un-human” unison stuff…but a capoira dancing crab would be cool, too.
If musical groups could plug into each other then what about being able to download other people’s neuro pathways into our own brain? We could then do the things other people can do and experience the things they’ve experienced. But would it be the same as experiencing it for ourselves? I mean, certainly the neural paths would be real. Maybe the disjoint with the rest of our experience would be a problem. In any case, I think all crabs in the future should come with a USB port! (But the dancing software will be an “upgrade”.)