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"Science fiction represents the modern heresy and the cutting edge of speculative imagination as it grapples with Mysterious Time---linear or non-linear time."
- Frank Herbert

Smart Gel  
  Intelligent paste made of neurons; spread upon a substrate for computing.  

See the entry for head cheese.

"It's one of those smart gels," Ray said at last... "Head cheese. Cultured brains on a slab. The same things they've been plugging into the Net to firewall infections."
Technovelgy from Starfish, by Peter Watts.
Published by Tor Books in 1999
Additional resources -

The term "smart gel" is already in use; it refers to a class of liquids that have unusual properties in response to being compressed. Since smart gels expand or contract in response to external stimuli, they could be useful in applications such as an artificial pancreas that releases insulin inside the body in response to high sugar level. Smart gels might someday be used to make exotic foods, cosmetics, medicines, and sensors. See the article Smart Gels and Shake Gels.

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Starfish
  More Ideas and Technology by Peter Watts
  Tech news articles related to Starfish
  Tech news articles related to works by Peter Watts

Smart Gel-related news articles:
  - Nerve Cells Grown On Microchip
  - Neuron Network Cyborg Has Memory
  - DARPA Funding AI Fighter Pilots

Articles related to Artificial Intelligence
Grok And The City Fathers From 'Cities In Flight' By James Blish
Will An AI Found A New Religion?
Orwell's Nightmare Of AI-Written Novels Comes To Pass
RentAHuman App Lets AI Agents Hire Humans

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Science Fiction in the News

Grok And The City Fathers From 'Cities In Flight' By James Blish
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Orwell's Nightmare Of AI-Written Novels Comes To Pass
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