This strange story began in May 2003, when a unique device, controlled not by a set of microcircuits and software, but by thousands of neurons taken from the brain matter of rat embryos, was on display at the Atlanta Institute of Technology (Georgia, USA). Steve Potter, the creator of this bioelectronic-mechanical device, called it a hybrid robot, or Gibrot
Work on this unique device began back in 1993. Those who have seen the robot say that its size and shape resemble a hockey puck. According to the press, to control the Gibrot “a network of several thousand neurons grown on a substrate of 60 compact electrodes is used. The electrodes capture the electrical impulses emitted by the neurons and transmit them through the amplifier to the circuits that control the movement of the robot. The same electrodes are used for feedback.
A group led by Steve Potter. tried to teach Hybrot to follow a luminous object, but this was not successful for a long time. We had to improve the feedback circuit so that the neutron matrix converts the pulses that report the level of illumination into pulses that direct the robot to the light source.
When the puck moved from its spot for the first time went to the included light bulb, the jubilation of the scientists did not limit. It was about a significant achievement in the field of electronic systems …
Aliens build a castle
In honor of the joyful event, a spontaneous buffet table was organized, they drank champagne and even danced at the end of the evening. The group's laboratory assistant Sarah Rugten, who lived in Alpharetta. In a small town 45 minutes from Atlanta, she was returning home in the finest mood when the engine of her car suddenly stopped. The girl got out of the car, looked around the deserted highway in bewilderment and suddenly noticed that a dazzlingly shining and frantically rotating small blue ball appeared in the sky. Approaching the stalled machine, the ball gradually swelled and. finally reached a considerable size. In any case, as it seemed to Sarah, he was twenty times larger than her Alfa Romeo.
Sinking gently to the side of the road, the ball stopped spinning and became completely transparent. Devushna was even able to see that there were several small creatures inside it, busy with the construction of some kind of structure, which reminded her of a small medieval castle. Struck by what she saw, Dr. Potter's employee still managed to think that the old castle inside the flying ball was too much for a girl who had drunk only half a glass of champagne. - after which she disconnected from the outside world and fell into blackness.
"The work must be stopped!"
Waking up. Sarah found herself sitting at the wheel of her car, which, as if nothing had happened at a considerable speed, was driving on the highway. The girl's mind sounded: “The work must be stopped. The work must be stopped,”and so on ad infinitum. Once in his small apartment. Sarah
closed the door tightly and felt that now she needed to drink something stronger than champagne. She poured herself a whiskey, and soon a voice pestered her. verse. The girl went to bed, rightly hoping that the morning would be wiser than the evening. Waking up in the morning, she decided not to tell anyone about yesterday's incident - she was afraid that she would be mistaken and fired from her job, and the salary of a laboratory assistant, albeit small, was a useful addition to the scholarship she received as a student at the University of Atlanta.
The floor and ceiling were oozing blood …
The day passed as usual, and Sarah Rutten had already begun to hope that the shining ball and its mysterious inhabitants had only dreamed of her. However, in the evening, having thrown open the door of her apartment, she froze in horror on the threshold: a quiet hissing was heard in the hallway, and several red streams were pulsing from the walls, as if from torn arteries. The floor and ceiling were also oozing with blood, and the carpet was already saturated with it and looked like a giant leech.
The room smelled like a slaughterhouse. Sarah rushed out into the street in panic and wandered there until dark, unable to bring herself to return home. When it got completely dark, the unfortunate girl decided that she could not stay on the street for the rest of her life and must still see what her home looks like … Or maybe she saw all this horror just like the glowing ball? But then, sad as it may seem, you will have to see a doctor …
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Psychic Attack
When she returned, Sarah saw that in her apartment there were dark spots everywhere for baked blood. While the girl, armed with a rag and a bottle of detergent, was scrubbing the floor and walls, the order again rang in her head - "stop working on Gibrot." Since Sarah was a university student and was fond of reading ufological literature. she, accustomed to thinking logically, began to analyze the situation, trying to understand what was happening. In the end, the girl came to the conclusion that she had become a victim of aliens, who for some reason do not want Potter's work to continue, and are trying to stop it by influencing Sarah, the only woman in the group. But why should it be her. the laboratory assistant, on whom nothing depends, chosen by the aliens? Why don't they launch a psychic attack on Dr. Steve Potter? Don't they knowwhat exactly is he running the experiment?
As she wiped off the last stain, Sarah already knew what to do. She decided that the laboratory assistant's salary was incomparable with the peace she had lost. And if the intellect of the aliens is only enough to arrange a bloody poltergeist in the apartment of a girl who, with all her desire, cannot influence her boss, then there is only one thing left - to leave the laboratory. It would be sheer madness to try to resist an unknown evil force without having the capabilities, means, or the necessary knowledge for this.
As far as we know, Dr. Steve Potter continues to improve his Hybrot. And the laboratory assistant who came to Sarah's place, coming to the service, looks as if she had not slept all night, for example, she was scrubbing the floors in her apartment …
Darwin VII and extraterrestrial intelligence
I must say that work on the creation of a robot with a rat brain is being carried out in other research centers. For example, at the Neurological Institute in La Jolla (California. USA), scientists have created a robot that is controlled by 20 thousand rat neurons. The name of this robot is Darwin VII and it doesn't look like a washer at all, rather, it resembles a trash can. This robot consists of a base on which control mechanisms and a manipulator arm are installed. A special camera allows the robot to see the world around it. microphones enable him to hear. Thanks to special sensors, Darwin VII perceives the taste. The miracle robot is interested in the events taking place around him and is capable of learning.
Other research centers are trying to create similar thinking machines. But it is not known whether extraterrestrial civilizations interfere with this work. In any case, scientists only laugh when asked by journalists. However, maybe with this laugh they are trying to hide their embarrassment?
Elena Gatchina
Secrets of the 20th century.