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"The whole problem of energy sources is going to be solved by little solutions, not by some big new piece of technology that does everything. We got into this crisis by believing that we had one big piece of technology that would do everything (oil)."
- Gregory Benford
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| 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." |
| 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
| CIMON Space Sidekick For Weary Astronauts |
| Biomind AI Doctor Mops Floor With Human Doctors |
| MIT Boffins Create Psychopath AI On Purpose |
| China Uses Artificial Intelligence To Grade Student Papers |
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'I'm afraid to tell you this Mr. Quaid, but you have suffered a schizoed embolism...'
'It drew its power from six square yards of sunpower screens on its low curved roof.'
'...lifted themselves to skimming flight upon whirling helicopters."
'Twenty rocket tugs towed it from its Earth hangar out into space.'
I don't need it to go fast, it just needs to amble along.
'The program raced up the screen one scan line at a time, subtly smoothing, deleting and coloring.'
