Brain Cells In A Dish Play Pong And Other Brain Adventures

Enlarge this image

People play Pong in Cologne, western Germany. Researchers are teaching brain cells in a dish to learn the play the game, too. INA FASSBENDER / AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

INA FASSBENDER / AFP via Getty Images

People play Pong in Cologne, western Germany. Researchers are teaching brain cells in a dish to learn the play the game, too.

INA FASSBENDER / AFP via Getty Images

The world of brain research had two incredible developments last week. Researchers have taught a dish of brain cells to play the video game Pong to help develop more intelligent AI. Separately, scientists transplanted human brain organoids into a living animal with the hope of using them as models of human disease. Jon Hamilton talks with host Aaron Scott about this research and its implications.

This story was edited by Gisele Grayson, produced by Margaret Cirino and fact-checked by Brit Hanson. The audio engineer was Joby Tanseco.