THERE was an exciting scientific development this week - boffins taught the brain cells which they had extracted from humans and mice how to play Pong.
For those readers who belong to a younger generation, Pong was a table tennis-themed arcade game which was released by Atari in the 1970s, became enormously popular around the world and helped to launch the modern video console industry.
Its success was in its simplicity. Participants used paddles to bat a ball back and forth, making a “pong” sound whenever there was contact, and scored a point when their opponent failed to return. The winner was the first to reach 11.
