![]() |
Science Fiction
Dictionary Latest By
"The world is really so surreal these days that it's necessary for us to blunt it somehow in order to stay sane. The artist functions to short-circuit the buffering mechanism, so that people can occasionally perceive the weirdness of things as they are."
|
![]() |
![]() Vergil Ullam was an unrecognized and unrewarded genius who spent a lot more of his time in the lab working on his pet projects than on his nominal work assignments. Fascinated by the potential of biological computing, he decided to give his own cells a boost up the evolutionary ladder. Eventually, they talked with each other, forming tiny communities that stretched across his body.
If you are interested in this area, take a look at a fascinating 1996 talk by Seymour Cray, who
created the first supercomputer. Here is a short excerpt from his talk, given at the Shannon
Institute for Advanced Studies.
Let's look first at the big DRAM memory. Well, it's packaged in 48 bags. These are called
chromosomes. Now, as we look at those we are a little puzzled because there are some little
ones and some big ones and some middle-sized ones, and how did that happen?
Well, when you think about it, this computing facility started with a very small memory, and
it's been upgraded a number of times, and you know when you go to the store you'd like to get
the biggest DRAM parts, but you have to go with what's available. And that's what happened with
the biological system. It had to go with what was available at the time it was upgraded.
If we look further into the big DRAM memory, we see that probably the packaging isn't
important. Forty-eight banks probably aren't significant. We can view the whole memory as one
string of bits, a one-dimensional memory. And biologists, I think, agree with that today. And
so how big is it? Well, it's six gigabytes."
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This | Additional
resources: Intellectual Cell-related
news articles:
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
|
![]() |
Science Fiction
Timeline
JAXA Int Ball 2 Coming Right Along As Star Wars Remote
'Hocus-pocus religions and archaic weapons are no substitute for a good blaster at your side.'
Robot Bricklayer Or Passer-By Bricklayer?
'Oscar picked up a trowel. 'I'm the tool for the mortar,' the little trowel squeaked cheerfully.'
Robot Gas Station Attendant Pumps Gas For You
'... he waited for the robotrix attendant to finish fueling up his ship.'
Engineer Creates Crazy Motorized Track Hospital Bed
The Roujin Z system provides care to fully bedridden patients - and then some!
Tiny Flying Robot Weighs Just One Gram
'Aerostat meant anything that hung in the air. This was an easy trick to pull off nowadays.'
Some Ringworld Configurations Are Stable
'The Ringworld had no horizon. There was no line where the land curved away from the sky.'
TRANSFORM Dynamic Furniture Concept Becomes What You Need
'An adjustment panel outside the door would cause it to extrude various appurtenances in memory plastic...'
Harvard Metamaterials Change Structure Instantly
'Annealed in any shape for a time, and codified, the structure of that shape is retained down to the molecules.'
SnapBot Robots - You Choose Their Legs And They Choose Their Gaits
It's not really polite to tear the limbs off robots.
Dino From Magical Toys An AI Companion To Children
'...the imaginary companions discovered by needful children.'
|
![]() |
![]() |
Home | Glossary
| Science Fiction Timeline | Category | New | Contact
Us | FAQ | Advertise | ![]() Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™ Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved. |
![]() |