'Digital twin' of a fruit fly created
Technology
Eon Systems has digitally recreated an entire fruit fly brain (about 140,000 neurons and 50 million connections) and plugged it into a lifelike virtual body.
The model, published in Nature in 2024 by Philip Shiu, can predict real fly movements with impressive accuracy.
Virtual fly reacts to its environment
The virtual fly actually reacts to its environment, moving naturally thanks to detailed scans and smart physics.
Eon's next goal? Simulate a mouse brain (that's 70 million neurons!) — no specific timeline given, with hopes of reaching human-level emulation someday.
CEO Michael Andregg calls it "a real uploaded animal," hinting at big changes ahead for neuroscience, AI, and robotics.