Mimicking the human brain has long been near the top of the list of dream projects for many a sci-fi-inspired scientist, and it looks like one team involved in the EU-supported FACETS initiative is now making some real, if still preliminary progress in the field. Apparently, they’ve built upon some recent mapping and modeling research and created an actual chip (or, more specifically a 20cm wafer), which could eventually contain a network of 200,000 neurons and 50 million synapses. That, the researchers say, will allow for them to take on larger scale neural computing work than has previously been possible, and could even lead to “practical neural computers” in as little as five years, which they say could be particularly helpful for things like internet search — or, you know, commanding a massive robot army.

[Thanks, Scott]