Space AI, Neanderthal Brain, Giraffe Hunt – Dom B Podcast #65 It's time to send Artificial Intelligence into space! Space AI in the form of Cimon or, Crew Interactive Mobile Companion, will be sent to the International Space Station to be the companion and tool of astronaut, Alexander Gerst. Cimon, will be the robot equipped with AI in space! This is just another great milestone reached by smarter people than I. I think AI will be the tipping point for faster and a more efficient way of understanding space and all of its mysteries.

A team of researchers hope lab-grown brains from 550,000-year-old Neanderthals will be able to pilot the movements of a crab-like robot. The unbelievable experiment is using Neanderthal DNA to grow pea-sized brains masses, which are hooked-up to robots to test the capabilities of the electrical signals detected within the tissue. Researchers from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine are simultaneously growing brain tissue from human DNA to plug into the same crab-like machines. They hope the difference in robot movements achieved by the lab-grown brains of modern man and Neanderthals, who diverged from human beings around 550,000 to 765,000 years ago, will offer vital clues about the minds of our early ancestors. The lab-grown brains cannot achieve conscious thoughts or feelings – but can mimic the basic structure of a developed brain, and reveal key differences in how the nerve cells function.

Scientists have revealed a radical plan to grow miniature Neanderthal'brains' in the lab. A team of researchers who have previously inserted Neanderthal genes into mice and frogs' eggs are now using the technique to understand how humans became'cognitively special' compared to our ancient relatives, according to the Guardian. The lab-grown mini brains will only be about the size of a lentil, and cannot achieve thoughts or feelings – but, by mimicking the basic structure of the developed brain, they could reveal key differences in how the nerve cells function. A team of researchers who have previously inserted Neanderthal genes into mice and frogs' eggs are now using the technique to understand how humans became'cognitively special' compared to our ancient relatives, according to the Guardian. The work is led by Professor Svante Pääbo, director of the genetics department at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, who previously unraveled the Neanderthal genome, the Guardian reports.

Neanderthals may have died out because they lacked part of the human brain that helps us adapt to change and be sociable. Our ancient cousins had less grey matter in an area vital for memory, thinking and communication skills, suggests a new study. This would have affected their social and cognitive abilities, and could have been a major factor in their demise, scientists said. Neanderthals would have been less able than humans to adapt to climate change by innovating, for example. Researchers scanned the skulls of Neanderthals to assess their brain matter.