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A comment on In vitro neurons learn and exhibit sentience when embodied in a game-world(2022). Parent comment

Re:In vitro neurons learn and exhibit sentience when embodie... by serf on Sunday March 08, 2026 @03:46PM (#47300573)
>That zinc spark.

it's not a literal spark. it was a florescence caused by an expulsion of zinc ions during egg cortical reaction in the midst of FluoZin-3, a dye that binds to zinc and fluoresces.

I think that experiment does a bad job at explaining that, because every damn person in the world is using that as some kind of 'spark of life' analogy when really there is no easier way to prevent triploidy than to force everything away for a moment.

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Re:In vitro neurons learn and exhibit sentience when embodie... by shomp on Sunday March 08, 2026 @04:55PM (#47301352)
Describing the chemistry doesn't invalidate the metaphor. It's still the moment fertilization initiates embryonic development. Explaining the gears of a watch doesn't make "the moment it starts keeping time" any less real, nor does it explain time.
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