Brains

Downloading nematode brains from Github
Dungeonman from youtube

Nematodes are very small, slender worms: typically about 5 to 100 µm thick, and 0.1 to 2.5 mm long.

Nematodes are pervasive:

Nematodes have successfully adapted to nearly every ecosystem: from marine (salt) to fresh water, soils, from the polar regions to the tropics, as well as the highest to the lowest of elevations. They are ubiquitous in freshwater, marine, and terrestrial environments, where they often outnumber other animals in both individual and species counts, and are found in locations as diverse as mountains, deserts, and oceanic trenches. They are found in every part of the Earth's lithosphere, even at great depths below the surface of the Earth. They represent 90% of all animals on the ocean floor.

Story I heard was that they are so pervasive that if you took away all grass and trees and dirt but left the nematodes, everything would still look the same.

Worm simulation in your browser

CElegans Neurorobotics
Timothy Busbice

Toy robot running a nematode brain simulation to control its actions.

GoPiGo Programmable Robot Kit

More technical stuff:

• Heyseth github
• connectomeengine. Note: that is connectome engine, not connect to me engine.

What's a connectome?

A connectome is a map of the brain's neural connections, also known as the brain's wiring diagram. It's made up of neurons that communicate through synapses, and each connection is made up of the presynaptic axon, the postsynaptic dendrites, and synapses between the neurons. Connectomes can be represented in graph or matrix form, and are used to analyze network organization. 

Nematodes brains aren't the only microscopic brains the whiz-kids are studying - some people are studying fruit fly brains.

The Making of a Fly

Thanks to Matt Parker, we have this book about fruit fly genetics.