Google maps fruit fly brain, internet makes it play Doom
Google and Janelia researchers just unveiled the first complete map of an adult male fruit fly brain and central nervous system—over 166,000 neurons and 125 million connections reconstructed into 3D using AI. Within days, developers wired the mapped neural network to play classic games like Doom and Mario 64. The code is open source, letting anyone tune in as the fruit fly brain tries to survive Doom’s monsters.
- 166,000 neurons and 125 million connections mapped
- Project took about ten years to complete
- 3D model made using millions of electron microscope images
- Developers quickly adapted it to play video games
- Open source code enables public experiments and observation
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