It is not deniable that I am a fan of evolutionary-inspired methods. Although one may show that all those metaphores are just metaphores and not the best mathematically possible thing to do, they are still beautiful. And I think the most important point in doing science is enjoying its beauty. Anyway, it is just an opinion.
I wrote all these thing to invite you to read this post of Genetic Argonaut. The post is about the history of evolutionary strategy. You may enjoy reading it like I did.
Brain in a dish acts as autopilot, living computer
A University of Florida scientist has grown a living “brain” that can fly a simulated plane, giving scientists a novel way to observe how brain cells function as a network.
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To control the simulated aircraft, the neurons first receive information from the computer about flight conditions: whether the plane is flying straight and level or is tilted to the left or to the right. The neurons then analyze the data and respond by sending signals to the plane’s controls. Those signals alter the flight path and new information is sent to the neurons, creating a feedback system.
“Initially when we hook up this brain to a flight simulator, it doesn’t know how to control the aircraft,” DeMarse said. “So you hook it up and the aircraft simply drifts randomly. And as the data comes in, it slowly modifies the (neural) network so over time, the network gradually learns to fly the aircraft.”
Although the brain currently is able to control the pitch and roll of the simulated aircraft in weather conditions ranging from blue skies to stormy, hurricane-force winds, the underlying goal is a more fundamental understanding of how neurons interact as a network, DeMarse said. (quoted from EurekAlert!)