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Bacteria That... Does Math!

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posted on Jul, 26 2009 @ 08:45 AM
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Have you ever heard of Craig Vetner?

If not, you should watch his presentation.





posted on Jul, 26 2009 @ 08:46 AM
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sounds very wierd compared to todays computers, but if it works a lot better than multi cores then when will this maybe be for sale ?.
ohh & since this means future computers will be alive does that mean i`ll have to feed my computer some bactiria type food ?



posted on Jul, 26 2009 @ 08:58 AM
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This is the tip of the iceberg with genetic technology. When you look at the immense diversity that Nature, an unguided 'dumb' power, has developed VS what Mankind's directed reasearch has provided the possiblities are endless.

For example...

Cheetah's @ 71mph VS Thrust SSC @ 763mph

Peregrine Falcon @ 220mph (dive) VS SR71 @ Mach 3.2

Although I am leary about any genetic technology at this point being widely rolled out, if the horizon is set at 20 years from now we should have a decent handle on things.

For right now, it's comparable to playing Russian Roulette with an automatic.



posted on Jul, 26 2009 @ 10:15 AM
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Originally posted by Alaskan Man

The implications are endless, living computers (since technically bacteria is alive) that are greatly superior to silicon based ones now.

[edit on 7/25/2009 by Alaskan Man]


Yes, bacteria only received the label of being alive as technicality. Most of know that bacteria are actually holograms that only pretend to be alive by fraudulently meeting every conceivable definition of being alive.

In fact, I am not afraid to eat raw meat because if I start feeling sick, I simply need to firmly state, "Computer, end program" and all the E Coli holograms, composed of merely photons and force fields, vanish instantly.

I ain't afraid of no holograms.

[edit on 26-7-2009 by andrewh7]



posted on Jul, 26 2009 @ 12:38 PM
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Sounds great and creepy. I wonder how this will evolve.
Imagine a living computer that only works if you speak nicely first



posted on Jul, 26 2009 @ 01:52 PM
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I guess theres a chance that this thing could become sentient especially as theres geeks the world over trying to create AI. If that happens then which scenario do you think we'd all face, Terminator? Matrix? An e.coli plague? Something completely different?

These computers could be used as control devices, and injected into us most likely disguised as a vaccine, which then connect directly into our brains. They could then be used to read our thoughts, and implant thoughts. Maybe they already are being used.

I think man has gone too far in the wrong direction with technology now. We had our chance to become a great species, but man decided to turn to the dark side instead. We will ultimately end up destroying ourselves, if someone/thing else doesnt do it first.



posted on Jul, 26 2009 @ 02:30 PM
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Totally amazing. I do hope we can figure out how to restrain ourselves with our technology, however. We all know the first thing we did with nuclear power...sure wasn't a power plant.



posted on Jul, 26 2009 @ 03:18 PM
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Yeah, but as the bacteria reproduce, wouldn't it eventually grow out of control, making the mathematics inaccurate? You know, bacteria can die, get born, at fast, hard-to-keep-up-with rates. Since they are living things, they MOVE so easily and wouldn't they need special maintenence? And if those needs aren't met, the dangers that could happen, the risk to people's health? If these biological computers were to become more popular, then that must mean an increase in this world of harmful bacteria.. I mean, come on, people didn't exactly even try to grow more bacteria for SWINE FLU to take place.



posted on Jul, 26 2009 @ 03:24 PM
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reply to post by TheOracle
 

Hi, TheOracle.


. . .say nice things first. . .

You made me do LOLLOL ! !

And when you order/ask you computer to do something,
DON't forget the MAJIC world: PLEASE. . . B-)))

And when he's done ?? Forget not: THANK YOU ! ! B-)

Blue skies.



posted on Jul, 26 2009 @ 03:50 PM
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Let me know when this wonder bacteria can do Laundry, .... freeloadin micoorganisms !!!

Technology is taking a strange turn. Arnold never prepared me for the eventual " rise of the microbes "



posted on Jul, 26 2009 @ 04:33 PM
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Wow, S&F,

I once believed I was a skilled computer tech but recently learned I’m far from it. Does this mean they are breaking away from the computer entirely or somehow incorporate the E.Coli in to a PC?

It seems when grouped together they think for themselves. I doubt I could ever outsmart a bacteria or a burnt pancake. Is this considered Biocomputing? It sounds a lot more advanced than that.

It’s a scary thought that E. Coli can think faster than a computer. Just the fact it thinks is astonishing. I’d like to learn more. They must wear Chem. Suits during the research.



posted on Jul, 26 2009 @ 05:12 PM
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And now with the popular notion that the military is about 30 years ahead of the "civilian" tech imagine what they might already have



posted on Jul, 26 2009 @ 05:32 PM
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about 17 or so years ago, a science magazine out of new york, had an article on the topic of using a photo-sensitive algae to create military computers for use on military aircraft. the rationale was that the data could be contained and controlled to flip or not flip (0 or 1) molecularly, by the application of or removal of, light. specific temps were necessary to keep it viable. if the aircraft crashed the data would be destroyed, leaving no trace of sensitive info that might otherwise be retrieved by enemies from downed craft. the tech was to be incorporated into black box data systems



posted on Jul, 26 2009 @ 06:54 PM
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Wow this is really incredibly stuff, bacteria faster than a PC!

I can just imagine computers in the future, when they get a virus, they really will literally, have a virus…

And the label on your home PC, will say, “Bacteria inside”



- JC



posted on Jul, 26 2009 @ 06:57 PM
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Oh great more computer bugs...and soon to be computer viruses



posted on Jul, 26 2009 @ 07:27 PM
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This is the beginning of computer self awareness!



posted on Jul, 26 2009 @ 07:33 PM
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Did anyone actually read the linked article...

The bacteria had modified DNA to flouress in different colours depending on certain characteristics in their own dna. Then the DNA was randomly shuffled and the bacteria was allowed to produce another generation which then contained an answer(glowing one of the colours). This approach requires atleast as many bacteria as there are solutions(both correct and incorrect)

This is basically a massively parallel computer made from simple trinary adders... Effectively an evolved 'Connection Machine'. The difference is that the biological trinary adders run at less than .0001 Hz, whereas the Connection machine ran at 4MHz. This is before subtracting the time it takes to modify the DNA of the bacteria and test the results.

In short, this is neat, but nothing compared to a massively parallel silicon implementation. Why people are oooohing and aaahhhhhing over this has me surprised.

When they get the bacteria to do general computing and program them using their nutrients, light conditions or heat, then I'll be ooohhhing and aaahhhhing.

[edit on 26-7-2009 by aaa2500]



posted on Jul, 26 2009 @ 07:52 PM
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It seems to me that we are getting closer and closer to something that we have had all along.

a brain.



posted on Jul, 26 2009 @ 08:33 PM
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Originally posted by aaa2500
Did anyone actually read the linked article...

The bacteria had modified DNA to flouress in different colours depending on certain characteristics in their own dna. Then the DNA was randomly shuffled and the bacteria was allowed to produce another generation which then contained an answer. This approach requires atleast as many bacteria as there are solutions(both correct and incorrect)

This is basically a massively parallel computer made from simple trinary adders... Effectively an evolved 'Connection Machine'. The difference is that the biological trinary adders run at less than .0001 Hz, whereas the Connection machine ran at 4MHz. This is before subtracting the time it takes to modify the DNA of the bacteria and test the results.

In short, this is neat, but nothing compared to a massively parallel silicon implementation. Why people are oooohing and aaahhhhhing over this has me surprised.

When they get the bacteria to do general computing and program them using their nutrients, light conditions or heat, then I'll be ooohhhing and aaahhhhing.


I see this as being no different than special purpose ASIC processors. For instance most people are completely unaware that we have 110 GHz ASIC processors built using silicon germanium. While this sounds impressive very few people understand the difference between generic semiconductor technology used in a PC versus a special purpose ASIC processors used in something like Cisco's CRS-1 routers.

Basically the interesting aspect of this article is that this research is a proof of concept that synthetic biological components can behave like transistors, capacitors, diodes, etc. as well as other types of circuits.

It's also neat that this new approach is inherently fungible. You can effectively spray on more bacteria and gain more computing power by the pound. This is obviously somewhat easier than trying to distribute a task using standard silicon solutions. Just compare simply applying more bacteria to installing something like OpenMosix or setting up a Beowulf cluster.

No competition.
Granted the real challenge isn't the hardware anymore it's writing highly parallelized software.

Speed is a completely separate aspect of this. If we're looking for raw speed I doubt a biological solution will ever approach the kinds of efficiencies we can expect to gain with quantum (peta-flop scale) computing. Likewise you don't see companies like Intel throwing away the old tried-and-true model to move to biological computing because generic silicon germanium semiconductor research is far more appealing in terms of its potential upper limits (500 GHz) for raw cycles per second and its ease of integration with current hardware.

Though it would be interesting to get some stats on the number of CPS per micrometer in the E. Coli computation system in comparison to that of a traditional silicon solution. Even though a single E. Coli is only 1 to 2 micrometers in length I doubt it will ever be able to compete with the core of a standard silicon processor at a current average of 45-65 nm.

All that aside coming up with other way to do computations is simply interesting because it means we can deploy to environments where a silicon chip might fail either due to thermal constraints or various other limitations.

I see this being particularly useful for space applications, which is inherently cool.

[edit on 26-7-2009 by Xtraeme]



posted on Jul, 26 2009 @ 11:49 PM
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Originally posted by Solomons
reply to post by TruthxIsxInxThexMist
 


Alien tech? Do people these days have such low respect for scientists that it *has* to come from aliens? These people probably put hard work and sweat into this for years and still nobody can appreciate their work...Anyway i think its a 100% human creation and a damn good one at that! i always thought quantum computing would take over silicon but this could be a more viable option.



[edit on 26-7-2009 by Solomons]


I couldn't agree more. I don't know much about computers, but have heard claims that fiber-optics is alien technology. Now this I DO know something about. The concept has been around over a hundred years. Take a bucket and fill it with water, then shine a bright light into the water and punch a whole in the bucket. The stream of water will look normal, until it hits something and the stream is interupted, at this point light radiates from the wet spot on your counter. This is the EXACT same principle as fiber-optics, and it has been around a LONG time.

I'm not trying to get off subject, just pointing out that many pieces of technology that seem out of reach are really not that complex. Sure there is a big difference between a bucket with a hole in it and the complex fiber-optics used today, but the concept is there. The tricky part is finding the right materials and processes to make it a practical technology.



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