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Water Computing

Posted by michael on from the wetware dept.

Andrew_Cronin writes "This is a nice project that some one did at MIT on building some logic computation systems without using electrons.. So why not use water..."

39 of 303 comments (clear)

  1. Why not water? by packeteer · · Score: 4, Funny

    Doesn't anyone know? Water and computers dont mix. Make up yuour mind. You can either make fun of water-cooling OR make computers out of water.

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    unzip; strip; touch; finger; mount; fsck; more; yes; unmount; sleep
    1. Re:Why not water? by jjshoe · · Score: 3, Funny
      clean off your motherboard real good with rubbing alchol. (turn computer off, discharge all capacitators and DOUSE it with rubbing alchol) then what you do is get distilled water... and ofcourse you then poar that all over your computer whilest its running. i did this for a speach class. everyone was in shock... after the speach teacher yelled at me i was then given the only a.


      so what were you saying?

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      -- botsex is {grep;touch;strip;unzip;head;mount} /dev/girl -t {wet;fsck;fsck;yes;yes;yes;umount} {/de
    2. Re:Why not water? by Alien+Being · · Score: 3, Funny

      "i did this for a speach class"

      If it had been a writing class you would have been marked down a half grade ;-P

    3. Re:Why not water? by The+J+Kid · · Score: 3, Funny

      Water and computers dont mix

      You're right. Only Aqua and Macs mix.

      Oh wait....

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    4. Re:Why not water? by PEdelman · · Score: 2, Funny

      Water AND computers don't mix? I guess then its "You can either make fun of water-cooling XOR make computers out of water"

      --
      Like science? Comics? Wicked...
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  2. MIT students?... by EvilCabbage · · Score: 5, Funny

    .. how long until we see a computer constructed using bong water?

    1. Re:MIT students?... by Foresto · · Score: 2, Funny

      "how long until we see a computer constructed using bong water?"

      Maybe you should ask Ellen Feiss... rumor has it she's been using one.

      (Apologies to my Mac friends.)
  3. Eat your heart out Mac fans! by fmaxwell · · Score: 3, Funny

    Here's the real aqua!

  4. I can't resist... by srhuston · · Score: 5, Funny

    Brings new meaning to the term "Bit bucket"

    --
    Three dits, four dits, two dits, dah!
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  5. I got to see the pics before they get /.ed by PigeonGB · · Score: 2, Funny

    I think it is a cool concept. EMP wouldn't be such a problem. Lugging the thing to a LAN party would. Imagine having to carry Hinkley and Schmidt as well as the device.

    --
    I have 3656.9 Bogomips. How many Bogomips do you have?
    1. Re:I got to see the pics before they get /.ed by Verteiron · · Score: 4, Funny

      Actually, it might not be that bad. Just drain it and put it in a box. Looks like most of the components are plastic, so it'll be pretty light. When you get to where you're going, just fill it from the tap.

      Instant computer... just add water!

      --
      End of lesson. You may press the button.
  6. So... by ackthpt · · Score: 5, Funny

    If you overclock it, can it cool itself?

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    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    1. Re:So... by EvilCabbage · · Score: 5, Funny

      Probably not, but I bet you could steam rice with it.

  7. How are we going to cool the thing off? by jpt.d · · Score: 5, Funny

    Will we use electricity to cool it? Well water is a very effective cooler on electronics, so why not do it the reverse when your water is your 'electronics'?

    ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPppp pp pppppppppp

    YOUCH!!!!!

    DAMN ME!!!!! THAT !*!@# HURTS.

    Scratch that idea.

    --
    What we see depends on mainly what we look for. -- John Lubbock Now search for that bug slave!
    1. Re:How are we going to cool the thing off? by negativethirsty · · Score: 2, Funny

      better grab the patent on that while you still have time!

      --

      thirsty*i^2

      "Ya I finished that last week, it just doesn't work"
  8. Someone drank it... by Lobsang · · Score: 3, Funny

    Either that or the Slashdot crew already crashed the "Water Computer". :))

    1. Re:Someone drank it... by llamalicious · · Score: 3, Funny

      mmm, no, sorry.

      Water-based computers do not crash, they Flush.
      As in: That's site's been /.'d, musta flushed the web server.

  9. At least it won't... by netsharc · · Score: 2, Funny

    burst into flames after the slashdotting.

    --
    What time is it/will be over there? Check with my iPhone app!
  10. The glass isn't half empty... by EvilAlien · · Score: 3, Funny
    ... its half full of beowulf clusters of water computing power.

    I couldn't resist, sorry.

    As we get closer and closer to microscoptic or at least very small computers, how long until the inevitable complex systems of neural nets combined with tiny computing devices self-organizes into something with capabilities outstripping an expert system... and into something like SkyNet in the Terminator movies?

    The self-organization of a complex system into a self-aware artificial intelligence is a chaos theory wet dream.

    --
    perl -e 'print $i=pack(c5, (41*2), sqrt(7056), (unpack(c,H)-2), oct(115), 10)'
  11. electrons vs. water by misterhaan · · Score: 2, Funny

    uh . . . this might be my fault. i told a bunch of people i tutored that electrons moved down a wire just like water moved down a pipe. it seemed to be the most effective analogy. but now someone has taken it too far!

    --

    track7.org has all kinds of interesting stuff!

  12. But what about...? by msaulters · · Score: 2, Funny

    Very cool, but I gotta ask two questions... 1) how to implement other operation: OR, NOT, etc. and 2) It looks like he lets the excess water simply run off... no method for collection or recycling.

    Naturally, this brings to mind all sorts of jokes about computers that can finally REALLY do windows. Still, one wonders: What's so original about this? Who hasn't operated a steam-driven computer while playing Myst or Riven?

    --
    These people looked deep into my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined.
  13. How is it cooled? by dstone · · Score: 2, Funny

    Maybe you cool a water computer with silicon? ;-) Sorry.

  14. Bad water/slashdotting joke... by Cheetah86 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Looks like we "flooded" the server...

  15. okay, maybe it's a stupid idea... by 7-Vodka · · Score: 5, Funny
    But the thought just came to me of using beer instead of water. That way you could make a beer computer! Who says beer makes you shite at math? you CAN get drunk and still do 4 bit additions :)

    Hell, take that thing on a pub crawl and have your beer do it's own calculations of how much tip you should leave as it's on it's way down to your stomach!

    --

    Liberty.

    1. Re:okay, maybe it's a stupid idea... by 7-Vodka · · Score: 4, Funny

      But occifer, that's not a keg in the passenger seat. It's my laptop's battery pack!

      --

      Liberty.

    2. Re:okay, maybe it's a stupid idea... by Idarubicin · · Score: 5, Funny
      But the thought just came to me of using beer instead of water. That way you could make a beer computer! Who says beer makes you shite at math? you CAN get drunk and still do 4 bit additions :)

      The big problem is the head on the beer. Bubbles would probably affect the logic in unpredictable ways. In other words, if your computer got...um...sloshed, then it probably couldn't calculate a tip any better than you could.

      And God help you if you tried to do any serious math. You know what they say...Don't drink and derive. It applies to you and your computer, now.

      --
      ~Idarubicin
  16. Re:Cool...but an old concept by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    non-silicon machine logic

    u mean like.. Galleum Arsenide? *rimshot*

  17. Re:I plan to take it one step further.. by squarefish · · Score: 3, Funny

    computer, bed, only one thing missing...p0rn? you must be into watersports!

    --
    Creationists are a lot like zombies. Slow, but powerful and numerous. And they all want to eat our brains.
  18. Maximizing processing speed by Alsee · · Score: 4, Funny

    Every time I try to overclock it, all the circuits freeze up.

    We're thinking of giving up on liquid nitrogen and trying liquid helium.

    -

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  19. Looks like it would be faster with... by Alien+Being · · Score: 3, Funny

    better pipelining.

    1. Re:Looks like it would be faster with... by mh101 · · Score: 2, Funny

      and a 133 litre per second FSB...

      --
      Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together.
  20. Re:So tell me this... by stratjakt · · Score: 2, Funny

    jumpin jeebus!

    whats a fella gotta do to get modded down around here?

    oh i know

    the fonts on my win2k box look great, and it needs no outlook killer - i got the real thing

    thank you

    oh yeah, tux is lame, and ellen feiss symbolizes all that is and ever was macintosh

    --
    I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
  21. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  22. Overclocking by jacobjyu · · Score: 2, Funny

    Imagine overclocking this baby.. just hook it up to Hoover Dam and you'd be able to run Quake3 easy.. but then again, you better have a monitor with a water input.. and a keyboard and mouse with water out

  23. oops by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I tried running setiathome on one of these, but all that number crunching made the CPU too hot and it evaperated...

  24. Another Slashdot repeat? by Chagrin · · Score: 4, Funny

    Didn't we just have a different "font" article?

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    I/O Error G-17: Aborting Installation

  25. Re:Cool...but an old concept by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    I made a hat out of a stick and a lobster.

  26. Yeah, they claim to have water computing now... by Mark+Garrett · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... but I bet that in a few months, it'll all just turn out to be vaporware.

  27. This gives a whole new meaning... by root_42 · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...to the term core dump!
    I wonder if this machine also has an overflow bit!?

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