Revolutionary Research: Hydrogels Learn to Play Pong, Paving the Way for Smart Materials with Memory

The research suggests that even very simple materials can exhibit adaptive behavior such as living systems or artificial intelligence. Scientists taught the game of Pong to hydrogel, a soft and flexible material, thus showing that the material has a memory.

This inert and lifeless material can also change the way we understand things.

Yoshikatsu Hayashi, who led the study from the University of Reading, says the discovery is of interest for developing new types of smart materials that learn and adapt to their environment.

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The ability, defined as learning in the hydrogel, is thought to arise from limited particle mobility in the material.

The study, published in Cell Reports Physical Science, also shows that hydrogels can not only play Pong, but also be better at the game over time.

Previous studies have found that brain cells placed in containers learn to play Pong when stimulated with electricity.

The team behind the study recently published another paper in which they showed how a different hydrogel material could work in rhythm with a pacemaker. This was the first time a substance other than a living cell was used.