I was a bit unnerved about the robot brains being made from human brains. I looked and the only reference i could find was about a Sathar brain being used to control Sathar robots, basically like the Robot brain used to control a large collection of robots in Star Frontiers. While looking into this i did find some really ghoulish research where brain cells from a rat was use to control a robot <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embed" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embed</a>... The rat brain robots created by a team of scientists at the University of Reading are apparently not done learning. In a real sense, it is a living robot. The robot has an actual, living brain consisting of rat neurons. The cells are removed from rat fetuses and then disentangled from each other with an enzyme bath. Finally, the cells are spread over a multi-electrode array (MEA) bathed in a nutrient-rich medium. Impulses from its robotic part are received; the neurons organize themselves and fire electrical signals back. This feedback loop has been sufficient to allow the rat neurons to drive Gordon , a small robot. While this would complicate Robot brains as it would need a nutrient bath, a take on computer from living brain comes for old sci fi novel "Think Blue, count two", where we have a laminated mouse brain ...Tiga-belax came in, very cheerful indeed... In his right hand there was a black plastic cube wih shimmering contact-points gleaming on its sides. The two technicians greeted him politely."I've got that beautiful child taken care of... I've used a mouse-brain." "If it's frozen," said the first technician, "we won't be able to put in the computer..." "This brain isn't frozen," said Tiga-belas indignantly. "It's been laminated. We stiffened it with celluprime and then we veneered it down, about seven thousand layers. Each one has plastic of at least two molecules thickness. This mouse can't spoil. As a matter of fact, this mouse is going to keep on thinking forever. He won't think much, unless we put the voltage on him, but he'll think. And he can't spoil..." Further notes on Mouse brain , an article on Professor Warwick the creator of the mouse brain robot states, Eventually, we'll have a cultured system that is roughly the size of the simplest of mammalian brains. At that point these systems will be able to accomplish much more, but how will we classify devices that contain living cells, especially if they become somewhat intelligent? Artificial intelligence is usually pursued through computer science, but biotech systems like Warwick's raise the possibility that cybernetics may be a quicker route to success. So it seem that Star Frontier, Computer brains made from Human brains may be an easier path to artificial intelligent. Such Wetware computers are being research and are cutting edge tech.. one paper talk about building a organic computer using brain cells ( Brain Jelly) so i think it a good model of what a Star Frontier Computer brain would look like.
