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"Fuzzy logic tries to get machines to think like people do, with inexact fuzzy terms."
- Bart Kosko
 |
| Positronic Brain | ||
| A computer CPU with the capacity to rival a human brain. |
This is the first reference to the phrase "positronic brain", if not the first use of the word "positronic", in science fiction (see below).
| By exact count, there are seventy-five thousand, two hundred and thirty-four operations necessary for the manufacture of a single positronic brain. |
| Technovelgy from Reason,
by Isaac Asimov. Published by Astounding Science Fiction in 1941 Additional resources -
|
Here's another quote:
It fitted snugly into the cavity in the skull of the robot on the table...
All that had been done in the mid 20th century on "calculating machines" had been upset by Robertson and his positronic brain paths. The miles of relays and photocells had given way to the spongy globe of platinum iridium about the size of the human brain.
The word "positronic" was used by itself in Trail of the Comet, a 1936 story by James Blish:
Compare to the Laminated Mouse Brain Computer from Think Blue, Count Two (1962) by Cordwainer Smith, the neuristor from The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (1966) by Robert Heinlein, the artificial brain from The Metal Giants (1926) by Edmond Hamilton, the synthetic brain from Mad Robot (1936) by Raymond Z. Gallun and the Thorsen memory tube from The Door Into Summer (1956) by Robert Heinlein.
Thanks to Alex Mair for contributing this item.
He handled it gingerly, for it was the most complicated mechanism ever created by man. Inside the thin platinum-plated “skin” of the globe was a positronic brain, in whose delicately unstable structure were inforced [sic] calculated neuronic paths, which imbued each robot with what amounted to a pre-natal education.
(The Positronic Brain from 'Reason' by Isaac Asimov)
The Planeteer brought out a heavy hammer and applied it diligently to the slats of the crate. "Positronic - uh - secondary screen -" he replied, between mighty tugs.
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Tech news articles related to Reason
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Positronic Brain-related
news articles:
- Brain Chip Hardware Neurons And Synapses
- First Transistor That Mimics Brain Synapse
- Carbon Nanotube Synapse Circuit Like Human Neuron
- Human-like Brain For Robots?
- IBM's Neurosynaptic Computing Chips
- Neuromorphic Computer Offers Non-von Neumann Architecture
- Can An Entire Brain Be Simulated In A Computer?
| Dino From Magical Toys An AI Companion To Children |
| AI Computer Chip Designs Passeth Human Understanding |
| Fine-Tune Your Infinite Book The Way You Want It |
| Stargate $500 Billion Investment in Artificial Intelligence |
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'Hocus-pocus religions and archaic weapons are no substitute for a good blaster at your side.'
'Oscar picked up a trowel. 'I'm the tool for the mortar,' the little trowel squeaked cheerfully.'
'... he waited for the robotrix attendant to finish fueling up his ship.'
The Roujin Z system provides care to fully bedridden patients - and then some!
'Aerostat meant anything that hung in the air. This was an easy trick to pull off nowadays.'
'The Ringworld had no horizon. There was no line where the land curved away from the sky.'
'An adjustment panel outside the door would cause it to extrude various appurtenances in memory plastic...'
'Annealed in any shape for a time, and codified, the structure of that shape is retained down to the molecules.'
It's not really polite to tear the limbs off robots.
'...the imaginary companions discovered by needful children.'
