Pig brains are kept alive OUTSIDE their bodies for the first time in a radical experiment

This is interesting because you can see a day when a persons brain is attached to a healthy body or kept alive in an virtual environment. Maybe even in an AI systems or robots.

Pig brains have been kept alive outside their bodies for the first time as part of a controversial new experiment.

The brains of hundreds of pigs survived for up to 36 hours after the animals had been decapitated, researchers revealed.

The radical experiments could pave the way for brain transplants and may one day allow humans to become immortal by hooking up our minds to artificial systems after our natural bodies have perished.

www.dailymail.co.uk...

In 30-50 years from now, life on earth will have changed radically. Maybe even sooner.

Scientist Dr Nenad Sestan, who led the Yale University team, disclosed his methods in a meeting at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

Researchers were able to successfully remove the heads of between 100 and 200 pigs and resuscitate their brains while detached from the body.

The organs were connected to a closed-loop system the scientists dubbed 'BrainEX' that pumped key areas with artificial oxygen-rich blood to sustain life.

In what Dr Sestan described as a 'mind-boggling' and 'unexpected' result, billions of cells in the brains were found to be alive and healthy.

If they can solve the problem of interfacing electronics with the high density of neurons in the optic, auditory nerves and spinal cord, the future will belong to cyber-pigs.

Holy cow!



Or pigs.

disgusting!

a reply to: neoholographic

But being a head in a jar hardly describes an ideal life.

a reply to: chr0naut

Good one

It can though, if your brain is attached to an AI computer that can create realistic virtual environments. So you can be in an environment where you're Hugh Hefner if that's your bag or where your President of the United states.

Who knows, we may all be virtual AI avatars in Donald Trumps virtual environment. So the real Trump is a brain in a jar in another universe.

Just a thought.

a reply to: neoholographic

Can you imagine if we had to live with every insane and terrible person ever born from now on and for as long as entropy permits?

We should not give this gift away carelessly if we ever do figure out how to swap bodies for new ones.

Or They got it working with Hawking and this is slow disclosure...Simpsons have been right before. (Heads vs Brains I know)

originally posted by: neoholographic
This is interesting because you can see a day when a persons brain is attached to a healthy body or kept alive in an virtual environment. Maybe even in an AI systems or robots.

Pig brains have been kept alive outside their bodies for the first time as part of a controversial new experiment.

The brains of hundreds of pigs survived for up to 36 hours after the animals had been decapitated, researchers revealed.

The radical experiments could pave the way for brain transplants and may one day allow humans to become immortal by hooking up our minds to artificial systems after our natural bodies have perished.

www.dailymail.co.uk...

In 30-50 years from now, life on earth will have changed radically. Maybe even sooner.

Scientist Dr Nenad Sestan, who led the Yale University team, disclosed his methods in a meeting at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

Researchers were able to successfully remove the heads of between 100 and 200 pigs and resuscitate their brains while detached from the body.

The organs were connected to a closed-loop system the scientists dubbed 'BrainEX' that pumped key areas with artificial oxygen-rich blood to sustain life.

In what Dr Sestan described as a 'mind-boggling' and 'unexpected' result, billions of cells in the brains were found to be alive and healthy.

I will believe this when I see the brain put back into something with normal functionality as if the brain were never removed.

a reply to: tadaman

Yeah, because using science/technology wisely is definitely humanities strong suit.


Just because we can do something, doesn't mean we should.

Dear god, the existential horror.

Yikes. Well, it's likely already been done for years in some lab in a lax jurisdiction, somewhere.

We're all probably brains in vats already... things are w e i r der lately.

Just be thankful for an environment to interact with. It could be much worse.

originally posted by: snarfbot
disgusting!

I love that song but never knew the lyrics, incredibly fitting here.

I’m all for scientific progress but I have a real issue with animals being used, I would have felt better about this if they decapitated pedophiles or politicians, or even better pedophile politicians, to experiment on

a reply to: neoholographic

I saw a movie once where they took out this guy's brain and kept it alive in a jar. The brain eventually took over everyone's mind using telepathy. It then started to make all the people start killing one another.

This sounds pretty much the same except now we've got pigs telling us what to do. Wait and see.

a reply to: neoholographic

I agree, this could be an amazing thing of done right. The possibilities! Fantasy fulfillment, physical and mental immortality and so on.

But in the wrong hands? I dread to think of the possibilities.

originally posted by: IkNOwSTuff

originally posted by: snarfbot
disgusting!

I love that song but never knew the lyrics, incredibly fitting here.

I’m all for scientific progress but I have a real issue with animals being used, I would have felt better about this if they decapitated pedophiles or politicians, or even better pedophile politicians, to experiment on

It's a fantastic song, and one of the last before Metalicas decent into radio play mediocrity, but that's my old school opinion.

Love the story though and should probably watch the movie it's based on one day. I can imagine these poor pigs in much the same predicament. If they could tap out Morse code, endlessly tapping, 'Kill me, kill me, kill me'. What a frightening thought.

Hmmm...a reply to: neoholographic

a reply to: neoholographic

Can you imagine the pain you'd feel, all those open ended nerves and nerve pathways, picking up on random electrical surface discharges. Talk about hell. It's bad enough they put pigs through it, but humans some day, they better be in an induced coma first and that might not even be able to stop the onslaught of errant pain and/or information.

Cheers - Dave

a reply to: neoholographic

I'm not an animal rights' activist or anything but I find this barbaric. I know the idea of consciousness in animals is up to debate with some but not to me. Certainly a pig doesn't have the level of consciousness a human does but it is truly horrifying to contemplate what that brain maybe thinking. Maybe I'm just being overly anthropomorphic but I have to think that the universe does not look kindly upon this.

The Russians did it with a dog in 1940.
Video is disturbing.