Computer scientists have for decades been vying to emulate the human brain, replicating its neural networks to build artificial intelligence (AI) with enhanced processing power.

But the more sophisticated those artificial neural networks become, the more powerful they get, and the more we rely on them, the more energy they consume. And sometimes nature's original design is just better in some regards.

In the latest demonstration of nature's efficiencies, a Swiss start-up company has just launched a 'biocomputer' that connects to living, pulsing brain cells and, according to its makers, uses far less energy than traditional, bit-based computers as a result.

... read more at sciencealert.com