Wait, memories are formed by retrotrans

Tim Hutton - 2018-01-15 12:49:19+0000 - Updated: 2018-01-15 13:22:45+0000

Wait, memories are formed by retrotransposons? This is staggeringly huge news. It means the brain might be using gene regulatory networks for computation. It means that memories might be passed between people by viruses, like the common cold. Time to reread Greg Bear's book "Darwin's Radio".

Brain Cells Share Information With Virus-Like Capsules

Shared with: Public, Dean Calahan, Greg Egan

+1'd by: Heath, Manuela Casasoli, Matthew Plymale, Rubén Perblac, Whitt Whitton, Abdelaziz Nait Merzouk, Andrew Davison, Michael Prescott, Dmitry Shintyakov

Dean Calahan - 2018-01-15 13:19:03+0000

er, Greg Bear, I think.

Tim Hutton - 2018-01-15 13:24:18+0000 - Updated: 2018-01-15 13:24:54+0000

+Dean Calahan Oh heck, yes of course. Thank you! Edited to correct this. Both are amazing authors of hard sci-fi.

Dean Calahan - 2018-01-15 15:35:43+0000

I've read lots of Bear, and folks keep recommending Egan, but my pile is so high these days, I have yet to get to him. I'm sure it will happen.

Tim Hutton - 2018-01-15 15:45:20+0000

+Dean Calahan With Greg Egan, maybe start with Permutation City. Worth it for the cellular automata and artificial chemistry alone!

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