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"I think we could solve our problems more easily through strength of character; but that's always been a commodity in extremely short supply."
- Gregory Benford
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| Neuristor | ||
| A solid-state computer component that mimics the human neuron. |
"Neuristor" is a term coined by visionary computer science engineer Hewitt Crane in his PhD thesis in 1958. The basic idea was that a solid-state device could mimic the characteristics of the human neuron. For example, it would offer a similar finite refractory period and lossless propagation. It's probably formed from "transistor" and "neuron".
| They kept hooking hardware into him - decision-action boxes to let him boss other computers, bank on bank of additional memories, more banks of associational neural nets, another tubful of twelve-digit random numbers, a greatly augmented temporary memory. Human brain has around ten-to-the-tenth neurons. By third year Mike had better than one and a half times that many neuristors. |
| Technovelgy from The Moon is a Harsh Mistress,
by Robert Heinlein. Published by GP Putnam in 1966 Additional resources -
|
Roger Zelazny also used it in his Hugo Award-winning novella Home is the Hangman. The following quote is from a related 1976 story The Force That Through the Circuit Drives the Current:
That brain is actually functioning. I could almost feel those little tunnel junction neuristors working, forming their own interconnections as I operated it. Apparently, I fed it sufficient activity, it took in sufficient data… It formed its own paths. It did—learn.
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Additional
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More Ideas
and Technology from The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
More Ideas
and Technology by Robert Heinlein
Tech news articles related to The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Tech news articles related to works by Robert Heinlein
Neuristor-related
news articles:
- Atomristors - Atomic Memristors - Using Thin Nanomaterials
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| Neuroplatform Human Brain Organoid Bioprocessor Uses Less Electricity |
| AI Worms That Spread |
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I'm hoping that this procedure becomes a normal part of medical practice!
'... nothing was perfected until M. Pantalon announced the completion of his automatic valet.'
'...its streets were of remarkable width, with few or no buildings so high as mosques, churches, State-offices, or palaces in Tellurian cities.'
'...it was all composed of tiny, identical cubes, carefully laid to form a tilelike surface.'
'He carried on his person a triggering mechanism sensitive to his heartbeat.'
'...Anything was possible in my imaginary environment.'
'Somewhere in space, a chrome and blue automobile raced the green light of Earth.'
'That explains how it was so easy for me to remain motionless in midair...'
