4.5M views · Jul 10, 2023 · 27:10 · 3 HN recommenders · 11 mentions · discussed 2023–2026
The Thought Emporium grows living rat neurons on an electrode array and tries to train them to play Doom. It is part of a series on biological computing.
Why Hacker News points people here: Cited whenever biocomputing or neurons-on-chip come up, as an accessible example of how such a system can be built.
“They run an amazing channel that covers a variety of topics. Highly recommend.”HN comment, 2025
“They run an amazing channel that covers a variety of topics. Highly recommend.”
Similar neuron project from an amazing channel
The YouTuber "The Thought Emporium" has been working on a similar project for a few years. this video They run an amazing channel that covers a variety of topics. Highly recommend. The mummification video is fun.
“it os as fascinating and horrifying as it sounds.”
Series training neural network to play DOOM
Anyone ineterested in more wetware projects should check out the series from The Thought Emporium on youtube: this video They are attempting to train a (literal) neural network to play DOOM. And yes, it os as fascinating and horrifying as it sounds. It's hard not to extrapolate 50 years down the line with this tech. Stuff gets complicated quick. How many human neurons do you have to use before you get an actual human consiousness?
“the Thought Emporium youtube channel has some explanatory [videos]”
Explains the process of growing neurons that play Doom
I think the Thought Emporium youtube channel has some explanatory [videos]( this video ) of the whole process. I couldn't wrap my head around the thing tho.
“This paper claims to have found evidence that supports this principle”
Neurons on a chip evidence for free energy principle
Karl Friston has been a long time proponent of the free energy principle in brain [0]. This paper claims to have found evidence that supports this principle in "neurons on a chip" based system [1] [0] link [1] this video
Lists Thought Emporium videos on neuron computing
this video Growing Living Rat Neurons To Play... DOOM? The Thought Emporium link Growing Human Neurons Connected to a Computer The Thought Emporium
“It's conceivable that in the not so far future we will be able to grow computers of our own design”
Thank you for your curiosity! Decentralization is a very long term effort -- Grothendieck said it would take generations, we can't expect immediate results. So while 100R certainly can't survive without relying on industry, it does do research into technologies that may be easier to "deindustrialize". See the "off-grid" and "sustainability" pages on their site. Finer point: even before the industrial revolution, humans have had access to supercomputers -- their own brains! It's conceivable that in the not so far future we will be able to grow computers of our own design, from just air and water. See promising efforts in this direction, it's not an empty dream! this video I guess the moral of the day with regards to banks and finance is, don't jump the gun! We will need them until we can grow raspberry pies on a tree!
“Thought Emporium on YouTube made a few videos utilizing organoid bio processors”
Thought Emporium made similar organoid processor videos
Thought Emporium on YouTube made a few videos utilizing organoid bio processors but iirc their neuron source is pig not human. this video
“alreadty existing stuff such as neurons playing Doom [0]”
Example of neurons playing Doom
I was once contacted by FinalSpark where they offered free early remote access to use their biocomputing platform. The platform is accessible remotely and allows experiments on neurospheres made from living cells, sitting in an incubator, in their lab, in Vevey, Switzerland. A neurosphere is a round structure build out of approximately 10’000 neurons, connected to electrodes in different places. The platform uses python scripts to communicate with the neuron allowing for various functionalities, such as: Stimulate living neurons, Read data from neurons, Log all the data in a database, and Display graphically the results of experiments for further analysis. I was too busy to come up with a clear project idea that could beat alreadty existing stuff such as neurons playing Doom [0] (not related to FinalSpark). Still waiting for someone to show something cool using this platform. [0] this video
Doom neuron project cited as comparison
How hard is it to do something like this on your platform [0]? Are there any other real-world examples where people are using your platform to do something similar? [0] this video
“has some videos that demonstrate how something like this could be built”
Demonstrates how a biological computer could be built
The Thought Emporium, a YouTube channel, has some videos that demonstrate how something like this could be built: Growing Rat neurons to play DOOM (unfinished): part 1 -- this video part 2 -- link Growing human neurons: link
“This reminds me of The Thought Emporium's project of teaching rat brain cells to play doom”
> Maybe our first AGI is just a Petri dish brain with a half-decent python API This reminds me of The Thought Emporium's project of teaching rat brain cells to play doom this video
