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Thinking Machine — Why Now?
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Thinking Machine

The BBC reports: Mouse brain simulated on computer

Actually is was about half of the brain on the BlueGeneL supercomputer using 4096 processors and a Terabyte of memory [256MB/processor]. It ran at 10% of the speed of a mouse brain and they could only sustain it for 10 seconds, but it’s a start.

They should have started with something less complex, like the Shrubbery, who based on press conference footage, can’t pass the Turing Test.

4 comments

1 Karen { 04.28.07 at 7:30 am }

Ya wouldn’t actually a need a computer neither – just a plain ole tube …where ya put IN anything GOOD, Valuable, Working, Functional …and SHIT comes OUT Later!

Cripes, how many more days is left of this admin and these horrid times. I feel Like I am watching the Fall of Civilization – killed by Cretins!

2 Bryan { 04.28.07 at 12:26 pm }

It’s like a cheap ΨΦ flick where someone is doused in a liquid and their disguise melts revealing their reptilian core.

3 Jim { 04.28.07 at 11:23 pm }

Hmmmm — I supose the brain of our President could be modeled as follows:

Upon receiving any input, respond: “It’s not my fault!”

Still, the work the BBC reports is pretty cool!

4 Bryan { 04.28.07 at 11:47 pm }

It’s a great step forward and it might help with the human-computer interface. I’ve have spent a lot of time in the past working with people with brain injuries, hooking them up to the ‘Net to expand their “community” as most have mobility problems that “trap” them in their homes. There are a variety of input devices available, but some people just can’t use any of them. It would be nice is there was an easier way to connect them, as many are still creative, but need a way to express it.

I’ve maintained for years if we ever develop a computer with the ability to think at the level of a chicken, humans could be in trouble. If they can achieve true brain activity for a sustained period, the machine can learn on its own and I’ll need to change careers again.