Androids: One step closer

I think for the sake of argument or maybe to start some I should define what I think an android is...because I might be totally offbase...maybe. Anyway - First Robot: Mechanical /electrical, autonomous or not, humaiform or not, for all intents a machine. Robot of course will evolve and may at some point be indistinguishable from human, but if they are still mechanical and electrical - they are a robot. Cyborg: a melding of the human and mechanical /electrical. Usually this is thought of as an "improvement" but there will come a time when you will be able to swap out most if not all your biological structures for artificial - Cyborg. Android: an artificial construct that mimics human (or other) life forms by electro-chemical and possibly mechanical means. It goes without saying that a true android would be autonomous and very likely a thinking self aware unit unto it self. I know I have oversimplified this greatly but I really did have an article in mind.

This one was in Science Daily discussing research on working artificial never networks.
From the article:

• Research that was recently featured on the cover of Nature Physics, (researchers) have taken the first step in this direction by creating circuits and logic gates made of live nerves grown in the lab.

It would seem that neurons grown in culture, they don’t form complex ‘thinking’ networks. What scientists are working on is a way to make them more "brain" like. What has been accomplished so far, with strict controls on how the cells grow and interconnect, is to build simple logic circuits. Yes, another name for that is computer circuits. One of the researchers, Prof. Elisha Moses of the Physics of Complex Systems Department said, As we find answers, we get closer to understanding the conditions needed for creating a synthetic, many-neuron ‘thinking’ apparatus.’

Yes that sounds like what it would take to be a step closer to creating an android, or any other device that required bio vs electrical impulses.

Check out the complete article here