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Monday, September 17, 2018

Modeling a Simple Organism

The nematode Caenor Elegans makes up about 80% of the animals on earth.  Yet it could be called the  most successful animal on earth.  Lives in most any environment.   We have completely sequenced its DNA.  We have been studying it for decades.  It has just 959 cells in its 'Brain',  302 neurons, each of its neurons are connected to 30 others.  So about 10K synapses.   (Humans have trillions).  So we should understand how a nematode's brain works?   No, not even close.   And we have been trying very hard. (Via Byron Reese in his book: The Fourth Age: Smart Robots, Conscious Computers and the Future of Humanity)  Good book on the direction, challenges and cautions of AI.

OpenWorm is an open source project dedicated to creating the first virtual organism in a computer.

Why?
Because modeling a simple nervous system is a first step toward fully understanding complex systems like the human brain.

How?
By rejecting red tape and building a community of engineers, scientists, and other motivated volunteers from around the world. ... " 

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