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ScienceQuiet 6d · day 9

Modders turn Google-backed fruit fly brain simulation into internet meme

A fully mapped male fruit fly connectome, released by HHMI Janelia and Google Research, has been wired into Minecraft, Doom, Beat Saber and bitcoin trading by online hobbyists.

newest coverage 6d agosummary written 8d ago5 pieces1 likes & upvotes MastodonNewswires

What to know

  • MaleCNS v1.0, a complete 166,000-neuron connectome of an adult male fruit fly, was released September 3 by HHMI Janelia Research Campus and Google Research.
  • Hobbyist programmers, not the original researchers, drove the viral wave by wiring the simulated brain into Minecraft, Doom, Beat Saber, bitcoin trading and other tasks.
  • Some experimenters, including AI researcher Nico Christie, say the trend has surfaced genuine findings, such as neurons enabling fast-weight continual learning absent in current LLMs.

“I and @nicochristie ran the fly connectome and found the group of neurons (hΔH, hΔA, hΔI and hΔG) that could allow the fly to navigate using fast synaptic weight updates, not neural activations. This is fast-weight continual learning in a fly, something current LLMs don't do!”

Nico Christie, Entrepreneur and AI researcher · 404 Media ↗ · Sep 14

Evan Sinclair Smith Georgia Tech CS graduate studentNico Christie Entrepreneur and AI researcherHHMI Janelia Research Campus Research institution behind the connectomeGoogle Research Research partner

Modders turn Google-backed fruit fly brain simulation into internet meme
404media.co

How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts

Peak 2 pieces in two hours at Sep 15, 10 AM; 5 pieces over 9 days (2 articles · 3 posts) Sep 15, 10 AM — 2 pieces · 1 article · 1 post — Mastodon 1, Newswires 1Sep 15, 12 PM — quietSep 15, 2 PM — quietSep 15, 4 PM — quietSep 15, 6 PM — quietSep 15, 8 PM — quietSep 15, 10 PM — 2 pieces · 1 article · 1 post — Mastodon 1, Newswires 1Sep 16, 12 AM — quietSep 16, 2 AM — quietSep 16, 4 AM — quietSep 16, 6 AM — quietSep 16, 8 AM — quietSep 16, 10 AM — quietSep 16, 12 PM — quietSep 16, 2 PM — quietSep 16, 4 PM — quietSep 16, 6 PM — quietSep 16, 8 PM — quietSep 16, 10 PM — quietSep 17, 12 AM — quietSep 17, 2 AM — quietSep 17, 4 AM — quietSep 17, 6 AM — quietSep 17, 8 AM — quietSep 17, 10 AM — quietSep 17, 12 PM — quietSep 17, 2 PM — quietSep 17, 4 PM — quietSep 17, 6 PM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Sep 17, 8 PM — quietSep 17, 10 PM — quietSep 18, 12 AM — quietSep 18, 2 AM — quietSep 18, 4 AM — quietSep 18, 6 AM — quietSep 18, 8 AM — quietSep 18, 10 AM — quietSep 18, 12 PM — quietSep 18, 2 PM — quietSep 18, 4 PM — quietSep 18, 6 PM — quietSep 18, 8 PM — quietSep 18, 10 PM — quietSep 19, 12 AM — quietSep 19, 2 AM — quietSep 19, 4 AM — quietSep 19, 6 AM — quietSep 19, 8 AM — quietSep 19, 10 AM — quietSep 19, 12 PM — quietSep 19, 2 PM — quietSep 19, 4 PM — quietSep 19, 6 PM — quietSep 19, 8 PM — quietSep 19, 10 PM — quietSep 20, 12 AM — quietSep 20, 2 AM — quietSep 20, 4 AM — quietSep 20, 6 AM — quietSep 20, 8 AM — quietSep 20, 10 AM — quietSep 20, 12 PM — quietSep 20, 2 PM — quietSep 20, 4 PM — quietSep 20, 6 PM — quietSep 20, 8 PM — quietSep 20, 10 PM — quietSep 21, 12 AM — quietSep 21, 2 AM — quietSep 21, 4 AM — quietSep 21, 6 AM — quietSep 21, 8 AM — quietSep 21, 10 AM — quietSep 21, 12 PM — quietSep 21, 2 PM — quietSep 21, 4 PM — quietSep 21, 6 PM — quietSep 21, 8 PM — quietSep 21, 10 PM — quietSep 22, 12 AM — quietSep 22, 2 AM — quietSep 22, 4 AM — quietSep 22, 6 AM — quietSep 22, 8 AM — quietSep 22, 10 AM — quietSep 22, 12 PM — quietSep 22, 2 PM — quietSep 22, 4 PM — quietSep 22, 6 PM — quietSep 22, 8 PM — quietSep 22, 10 PM — quietYesterday, 12 AM — quietYesterday, 2 AM — quietYesterday, 4 AM — quietYesterday, 6 AM — quietYesterday, 8 AM — quietYesterday, 10 AM — quietYesterday, 12 PM — quietYesterday, 2 PM — quietYesterday, 4 PM — quietYesterday, 6 PM — quietYesterday, 8 PM — quietYesterday, 10 PM — quietToday, 12 AM — quietToday, 2 AM — quietToday, 4 AM — quiet 1
Sep 16Sep 17Sep 18Sep 19Sep 20Sep 21Sep 22yesterdaynow · 5:47 AM ET
  1. 1

    404 Media profiles the viral fly-brain trend

    404 Media's Becky Ferreira published a feature detailing how the MaleCNS v1.0 connectome went viral, interviewing Smith and Christie about the trend's origins and scientific implications.

    “We present the first finished connectome of an entire male Drosophila central nervous system, encompassing the central brain, optic lobes (analogous to mammalian retina) and the ventral nerve cord (analogous to the spinal cord).”
    — HHMI Janelia / Google Research team, Research team press release · source
    1. 1 outlet A Digital Fly Brain Has Taken Over the Internet

      first by 404 Media, 8d ago

      1 more headline
    • jasonkoebler.bsky.social@bsky.brid.gy

      i like the fly www.404media.co/a-digital-fl... A Digital Fly Brain Has Taken ...

      jasonkoebler.bsky.social@bsky.brid.gyMastodon8d agoview on Mastodon ↗
  2. background

    Researchers find fast-weight learning neurons in the connectome — Working with Christie, researchers identified a group of neurons (hΔH, hΔA, hΔI and hΔG) that may let the fly navigate via fast synaptic weight updates rather than neural activations, a form of continual learning current LLMs lack.

  3. background

    Nico Christie programs the fly to be attracted to other males — Entrepreneur and AI researcher Nico Christie modified the connectome simulation to make the fly attracted to other males, creating the "bi fly" variant, after encountering the trend on X.

  4. background

    Modders expand the fly brain into Doom, Beat Saber and more — Following Smith's viral Minecraft demo, other online modders dropped the connectome into additional games and tasks, including Doom, Beat Saber, parallel parking, doner kebab cutting, and bitcoin trading (dubbed "stonkfly").

  5. background

    Evan Sinclair Smith programs the fly brain to play Minecraft — Georgia Tech graduate student Evan Sinclair Smith ran the full retained MaleCNS v1.0 connectome inside Minecraft, using its simulated neural activity to drive a fly's in-game movement; the results drew millions of views within a day.

  6. background

    HHMI Janelia and Google Research unveil MaleCNS v1.0 connectome — The team announced the first finished connectome of an entire male Drosophila central nervous system, mapping more than 166,000 neurons across the brain, optic lobes and ventral nerve cord, in a press release.