The "brain" is a small puddle of 25,000 living neurons taken from a rat's brain and cultured in a glass dish.
At first, the simulated plane drifts randomly. But the neural network slowly learns; currently, the brain can control the pitch and roll of the simulated craft in most weather conditions, including storms and hurricane-force winds.
Until now, apparently... (Read more from Starfish smart gels)
(This Science Fiction in the News story used with permission from Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction.)