I recently published an article for C&EN's Newscripts column titled: A tiny brain good only at video games, for now, and an elephant-trunk gripper arm . That article, available at the link, is about two research projects. In the first, an Australian team grew neuron clusters on computer I/O chips, and then taught those vivo-silico systems how to play Pong. In the second, unrelated project, a group in South Korea made a new gripping appendage for robot arms that combines suction and a pinch-grip. It was a hoot to report, write, and especially illustrate. The Korean team supplied me with a wealth of great images and a hypnotizing video showing the gripper in action; C&EN's video team clipped the video down to a social-media-friendly 2-ish minutes. For the Pong brain, I wanted to make the illustration using an image-generating AI. I have a subscription to Midjourney , so off I went on a long fun trek to make something that visually captured the story. There's a gatek...
