BBC News Review 用脑细胞制造的计算机

A computer made from living brain cells.

This is news review from BBC Learning English, where we help you understand news headlines in English.

I'm Neil, and I'm Georgie. Make sure you watch to the end to learn the words

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Now the story. Scientists have created a computer system which uses living brain cells to complete tasks.

The computer, which they call Brain nowhere, can recognize voices and do mathematical calculations.

Experts think this technology could make AI more human, like you ve been looking at the headlines Georgie, what's the vocabulary people need to understand this story?

In English, we have biocomputer lab grown and brain like This is news review from BBC Learning English.

Let's have a look at our 1st headline.

This one's from k News. Biocomputer using human brain tissue achieves voice recognition in latest AI enhancement.

So this story is about brain aware, which is a technology that uses real brain cells to do things like recognize voices.

We're looking at the word bio computer, which is made up of two parts bio and computer.

But when we put them together, georgie, what's the sense?

You're right. The word is made up of the prefix bio and the noun computer.

Bio means life, or living things.

So the study of living things is biology, And the 2nd part is computer.

Well, we all know what that means.

So bio computer means a living computer.

The living part here is brain cells.

Sounds a bit futuristic, doesn't it?

It does. It sounds like some kind of Hollywood sci fi movie.

So a biocomputer is the combination of electronic hardware and real living cells, brain tissue here.

The word bio features in lots of different words, though, doesn't it?

Georgie, can you give us some example?

Sure. So when you're talking about the environment, you might hear words like biodegradable, which means that when you throw something away, it can be broken down by living things, or biofuel, which is a type of fuel made from living things like plants.

OK, let's look at that again.

Let's have our next headline. This one's from Nature.

Biocomputer combines lab grown brain tissue with electronic hardware.

So this headline tells us a little bit more about the brain tissue that scientists are using.

We're interested in the vocabulary lab grown again, it's got two parts, and we need to understand both to get the fuller let's start with lab.

What's the lab? So lab is short for laboratory a science lab.

So is that place you might find scientists in white lab coats, doing experiments and looking through microscopes.

What about grown? Yeah. So grown is the past participle of grow, which means get bigger.

So if the brain tissue is lab grown, it means that it was created and got bigger in a science lab.

Now, to be clear, this brain is not a real human brain, is it?

No. The scientists did not take the brain tissue from a real person s brain.

They created it using a type of cell called a stem cell.

But it's not just brains they grow in labs.

We also have lab grown meat.

Yes, so lab grown meat is meat created by scientists in a lab.

There are no animals or farming involved.

And you might also hear about lab grown diamonds, a scientific process to create diamonds.

OK, let's look at that again.

Let's look at our next headline.

This one's from The Financial Times.

Scientists use brain like tissue in advance for biocomputing research.

This time we are focusing on brain like.

Again, there are two parts, and they're both very familiar, brain and like, but the like here is not like, as in, I like chocolate.

Is it Georgie? No. When you hear a word with like, at the end, it means that thing is similar to the noun it's connected to, but not exactly the same.

So here we have

brain like tissue. And we're saying that tissue is like a brain, but isn't a real brain?

Yes. And as

you said earlier, AI generally is becoming more human like.

And that doesn't mean that it is a human, it means that it's behaving more in a

human way. Um, another example, georgie, I saw you the other day wearing

a very smart business suit. You looked businesslike.

Yes? Well, actually, I was on my way to interview a very important person, so I had to look professional.

Well, yes, it's important to be businesslike in that situation.

Let's look at that again. We've had bio computer, a computer made of living tissue, lab grown, made in a science laboratory, and brain like similar to but not a real brain.

Watch more news with you on our website, and learn how to talk about world events in English.

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