CAULDRON REPORT

The historical narrative of the American cowboy is not a zero-sum game in which one culture must be erased so another can claim total credit. History rarely works that way. The cowboy tradition that came to define the American West emerged from centuries of cultural exchange, adaptation, and practical innovation. Texas, Mexico, Spain, Native communities, Black ranch hands, and Anglo settlers all played roles in shaping what we now recognize as the cowboy.

Reducing that story to a modern political talking point — whether to claim the cowboy was “purely Anglo-American” or to argue the entire tradition belongs exclusively to Hispanic culture — distorts the historical record.

The truth is simpler and far more interesting: the cowboy is a genuine cultural hybrid. The roots lie with Spanish vaqueros in the 1500s. The large-scale cattle industry that popularized the image exploded in Texas during the 19th century. And the workforce that…

In early 2026, researchers at the Australian biotech startup Cortical Labs successfully trained a network of roughly 200,000 lab-grown human brain cells to play a simplified version of the classic 1993 first-person shooter, DOOM. 

Key Details of the Experiment:

• The Subject: The cells are living human neurons grown on a microelectrode array called the CL1 biological computer, which translates game data into electrical signals the cells can "feel".

• Goal-Directed Learning: Scientists used the Free Energy Principle to train the cells. When the neurons performed "correct" actions (like shooting an enemy), they received structured, predictable electrical feedback. Incorrect actions or "dying" resulted in chaotic, unpredictable noise, which the neurons naturally reorganized to avoid.

• Progression: This follows a famous 2022 experiment where a larger group of 800,000 neurons (nicknamed DishBrain) learned to play the 2D game Pong.