A News Sonnet A Day for April 2010: 29

I've set myself a goal for National Poetry Month this year: Compose a sonnet based on a science-themed news story each day.

Today's installment takes its cue from "Pentagon: Boost Training With Computer-Troop Mind Meld" by Katie Drummond at Wired.

Rules of Virtual Engagement

Our troops enact hard choices on the spot,
Immersed in unrelenting stress of war.
But now a game adaptive to their thoughts
Could bolster their cognition at its core.

From physical response and EEG,
A simulated war zone would react
On scales of culture, trust, hostility.
And soldiers, often short of crucial facts,

Would strive to make their intuition sound.
Their basal ganglia would give the clues
To how they make snap judgments on the ground,
Midst multi-sensory, intensive cues.

A constant learning curve could be designed
To optimize the tactics of the mind.

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