Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Hot Ice Computer
A massively-parallel computing device made from supersaturated solutions of sodium acetate? The basic idea is to use the wavefront of crystallization to perform calculations; the speed of the wavefront through the solution and the way it interacts with other wavefronts performs calculations.
We aim, therefore, to provide an example of a novel computing material which is cheap to build, requires minimal resources to operate, implements computational procedures relatively quickly and is capable of solving a wide range of computationally-hard tasks. We show that sodium acetate trihydrate (colloquially called ‘hot ice’ due to its resemblance to ice and its crystalline behaviour) perfectly fits our specification of an ‘ideal DIY unconventional computer’ because it solves a variety of tasks by traveling and interacting waves of crystallization in its supersaturated solution.
Most experimental prototypes of unconventional computers either require a tailored hardware interface (analog computers, liquid crystals) and specialized equipment (memristors, gas-discharge systems), or they may have intrinsic limitations on the speed of computation (reaction-diffusion chemical processors). Physarum computer is the simplest to build but the most difficult to control, due to the sensitivity and somewhat unpredictable behaviour of the living creature.
(Hot Ice computer video)
"A supersaturated solution of sodium acetate, commonly called 'hot ice', is a massively-parallel unconventional computer. In the hot ice computer data are represented by a spatial configuration of crystallization induction sites and physical obstacles immersed in the experimental container. Computation is implemented by propagation and interaction of growing crystals initiated at the data-sites. We discuss experimental prototypes of hot ice processors which compute planar Voronoi diagram, shortest collision-free paths and implement AND and OR logical gates.In the video, sites where crystallization was induced by the pins are encircled. The planar Voronoi diagram of yields the same result as obtained by classical algorithm."
When I read about this, I thought about how it might be possible to create a very large crystalline computer system - and it would make a cool clubhouse as well.
(Superman's Fortress of Solitude)
Update: Roger Zelazny fans might also recall Speicus, the crystallized protein artificial intelligence, from his remarkable 1976 book Doorways in the Sand. End update.
From Hot Ice Computer (pdf) via Technology Review.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 9/6/2009)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Computer ")
Great. Now AIs Have Access To Hacking Tools
'... when you and the Flatline punch through that ice and scramble the cores.' - William Gibson, 1984.
Tongue-Controlled Tong Wearable Mouth Computer
'Griff found the white and pink map distracting and switched it off using his tongue mouse.' - Greg Bear, 2007.
Interpol Launches Metaverse For Law Enforcement
'CopSpace sheds some light on matters, of course. Blink and it descends in its full glory.' - Charles Stress, 2007.
AVATECT Prevents Spoofing Of Avatars
'Your physical appearance is a graphical encryption that the human mind is uniquely qualified to decode.' - Daniel Suarez, 2009.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Wearable Energy Harvester
'... he had tightened the chest to gain maximum pumping action from the motion of breathing.'
Drones Participate In Buddhist Rites
'...a prayer wheel swung into view and began spinning at a furious pace.'
Anna Indiana AI Singer-Songwriter
'She is a personality-construct, a congeries of software agents'
Video Manicuring ala Schismatrix
'The program raced up the screen one scan line at a time'
'Feel the AGI' OpenAI Leader Now OpenWorship
'And are all the people willing to be governed by a machine?'
NASA Tests Prototype Europa Lander
Why have legs if they don't walk around?
Tailsitter Drone Aircraft For SAR
'...it was so easy for me to remain motionless in midair.'
Forward CarePod The AI Doctor's Office
'It's an old model,' Rawlins said. 'I'm not sure what to do.'
Mika The Robot-Boss
'the robot-boss was busy at the lip of the new lode instructing and egging the men on to greater speed...'
Yamaha Motoroid 2 No Handlebars Self-Balancing Motorcycle
'He rode the bike with an intense lack of physical grace...'
San Francisco Autobus
'THE autobus turned silently down the wide street...'
Should Your Car Decide If You Can Drive?
'Okay. Maybe the car was right...'
Lucid Dreams On Demand From Prophetic and Card79
'the peeper did not operate by virtue of its machinery alone, but by the reaction of the brain and the body of its user...'
Honda UNI-ONE Hands-Free Wheelchair Follows 100 Year-Old Design
'Noiselessly, on rubber-tired wheels, they journeyed...'
EBS-260 Handjet Free Hand Dot Matrix Printer
'McKie held a chalf-memory stick over the dusted surface.'
Sensitive, Soft Robot Skin
'...tinted material that had all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.'
