研究人員在實驗室里培養出的腦細胞已經學會玩 20 世紀 70 年代模擬乒乓球比賽的電子游戲《乓》（ Pong ）。研究人員表示，他們培養出的 “迷你大腦” 能感知并對周圍環境作出反應。

Pong was one of the very first computer games. Released in 1972, it involves keeping a dot in play by sliding a paddle on each side of the screen.

《乓》是最早問世的電子游戲之一。這款游戲于1972年發行，玩家通過滑動屏幕兩側的球拍擊球，使球保持在界內。

Researchers at Cortical Labs in Melbourne grew 800,000 brain cells from a mixture of mouse neurons and stem cells. They then connected them to a computer. With a little coaxing, the cells learnt how to play within five minutes.

澳大利亞墨爾本腦科學公司 “Cortical Labs” 的研究人員用小鼠神經元和干細胞的混合物培養出了80萬個腦細胞。然后，他們將這些腦細胞連接到計算機上。在稍加引導后，“迷你大腦” 在五分鐘內就學會了玩這個游戲。

Mini-brains are currently being used to research brain development and to find new treatments for disorders. But this experiment has taken the technology a step further and could be used to develop a more flexible type of artificial intelligence.

“迷你大腦” 技術一直被用于研究大腦發育和尋找疾病的新療法。但這個實驗將該技術向前推進了一步，使其有望用于研發更靈活的人工智能類型。

詞匯表

released 發行
brain cells 腦細胞
neurons 神經元
stem cells 干細胞
coaxing 引導
disorders 疾病，（身心機能的）失調
artificial intelligence 人工智能

閱讀理解：請在讀完上文后，回答下列問題。

1. When was the computer game Pong first released?

2. What were these new artificial brain cells grown from?

3. How long did it take for the brain cells to learn how to play Pong?

4. True or false? This experiment has had similar results to other research into brain development.

答案  

1. When was the computer game Pong first released?
The game was first released in 1972.

2. What were these new artificial brain cells grown from?
They were grown from a mixture of mouse neurons and stem cells.

3. How long did it take for the brain cells to learn how to play Pong?
With a little coaxing, the cells learnt how to play within five minutes.

4. True or false? This experiment has had similar results to other research into brain development.
False. This experiment has taken the technology a step further and could be used to develop a more flexible type of artificial intelligence.