

OpenWorm – Create a virtual C. elegans nematode - emgeee
http://www.openworm.org/index.html

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sanxiyn
I backed an OpenWorm Kickstarter campaign to earn a bragging right, so let me
brag. :)

Seo Sanghyeon at
[http://www.openworm.org/supporters.html](http://www.openworm.org/supporters.html)

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_root
I am one of the scientists who contributed to OpenWorm with C.elegans
behavioural data. We have launched an online repository of actual experiments
for anyone to download and continue our research: [http://wormbehavior.mrc-
lmb.cam.ac.uk/](http://wormbehavior.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/)

Original paper:
[http://www.nature.com/nmeth/journal/v10/n9/full/nmeth.2560.h...](http://www.nature.com/nmeth/journal/v10/n9/full/nmeth.2560.html)

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cr4zy
Also check out this embodiment

[http://www.i-programmer.info/news/105-artificial-
intelligenc...](http://www.i-programmer.info/news/105-artificial-
intelligence/7985-a-worms-mind-in-a-lego-body.html)

And some implementation details

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8745639](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8745639)

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rndn
I find it interesting and also sobering that the connectome of the C. elegans
is known since 1986 but it's still far from obvious what to do with it.

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simcop2387
That's starting to be figured out finally. They've identified the motor
neurons and some of the ones involved with touch so that a simulated worm can
actually navigate around. I find it incredible though all this is done with as
few neurons as it has (302). I've got everything downloaded and have been
wanting to play with it in a simulation of some kind.

~~~
sanxiyn
_C. elegans_ neurons are non-spiking, making them more like analog circuits
than digital circuits. In comparison, all mammalian brains use spiking
neurons.

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delucain
Does this mean that one neuron can carry a signal that is more dense in data
than a 0/1 binary spiking signal? Like a single neuron can transmit a complex
feeling instead of just if it's touching something or not?

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jacquesm
It can transmit continuous variable state rather than discrete state in
pulses.

Of course you can still transmit continuous variable state indirectly using
pulses (for instance, using pulse width modulation or frequency modulation)
but it requires a bit more hardware.

Probably there is some kind of cross-over in complexity of the neural
structure (density, length of the individual neurons) where it makes more
sense to switch to a digital mode (cross talk for instance).

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ohquu
[http://www.openworm.org/science.html](http://www.openworm.org/science.html)

s/pealing/peeling

