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Computer Made From DNA And Enzymes

Posted by timothy on from the it-is-what-you-are dept.

develop writes "Some folks from Israel have created a computer that runs on DNA and enzymes and is supposedly 100,000 times faster then today's PCs. Information at National Geographic, Telegraph UK and United Press." According to the National Geographic story, this DNA-based computer "can perform 330 trillion operations per second, more than 100,000 times the speed of the fastest PC." However, be aware that most of this is still future tense, and what these researchers have now is just a proof-of-concept.

16 of 393 comments (clear)

  1. 330 trillion calculations per second? by martyn+s · · Score: 5, Funny

    330 trillion calculations per second? Impressive, but can it run Doom 3?

    1. Re:330 trillion calculations per second? by MulluskO · · Score: 5, Funny
      ...but can it run Doom 3?
      If so, inject it into my brain now, please.
      --

      Too busy staying alive... ~ R.A.
    2. Re:330 trillion calculations per second? by davebarz · · Score: 5, Funny


      Yeah, but only at 47976 fps, if you can even call that playing.

      --
      barzelay.net
  2. Prior Art by worst_name_ever · · Score: 5, Funny

    Earlier today I hawked up a loogie in the parking lot. While at the moment it is only a puddle of goo, or "proof of concept", I predict that this collection of DNA and enzymes will someday be capable of performing over 330 trillion operations per second, more than 100,000 times the speed of the fastest PC!

    --

    In Soviet Rush, today's Tom Sawyer gets high on you.
  3. Imagine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Imagine a beowulf cluster of those machines...wait a minute, I am one!

    1. Re:Imagine by MBCook · · Score: 4, Funny

      And that's the only joke you could think of? I think it's time for an upgrade my friend.

      --
      Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
  4. FOM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    I hear Feed Only Memory is the future of storage.

  5. My hamster died by Kaeru+the+Frog · · Score: 5, Funny

    I don't think I'd be responsible enough to remember to feed my computer.

    1. Re:My hamster died by zero-g · · Score: 5, Funny

      So... would overclocking involve caffeine?

  6. OMG!!! The Miracle Of Birth!!! by kruetz · · Score: 4, Funny
    Some folks from Israel have created a computer that runs on DNA and enzymes and ... can perform 330 trillion operations per second, more than 100,000 times the speed of the fastest PC ... is just a proof-of-concept.

    WTF? Has the world gone mad?

    I am made from DNA and enzymes!

    My brain performs more than 330 trillion ops/sec (stuff like image analysis, speech recognition, "AI",...)

    AND YOU DARE CALL ME "just a proof-of-concept"!?!?

    Welcome to the miracle of birth (and cloning). This is the 21st century!

    Listen, buddy. I'm the result of billions of years in the evolutionary compile-link-debug cycle. So just show some bloody respect. Would you like to see my proof-of-concept gross-human-mutilation firsthand? No? Then keep your childish insults to yourself!

    (from Israel ... hmmm ... do they cut the PS/2 port off the end of the keyboard cable? *just kidding, folks* )

    --

    This sig intentionally left bla... dammit!
    Who's got the whiteout?
  7. Re:Imagine! by Goalie_Ca · · Score: 5, Funny

    Imagine what a beowulf of these would look like!
    Perhaps a little like a scandinavian warrior from the 6th century!?

    --

    ----
    Go canucks, habs, and sens!
  8. National Geographic? Please.. by Havokmon · · Score: 4, Funny
    According to the National Geographic story, this DNA-based computer "can perform 330 trillion operations per second, more than 100,000 times the speed of the fastest PC."

    Yeah, and on page 79 is a article about a newly discovered Amazon tribe 'untouched by modern man'.

    Yet the women have remarkably perky breasts..

    --
    "I can't give you a brain, so I'll give you a diploma" - The Great Oz (blatently stolen sig)
  9. Re:nice typo by crazyprogrammer · · Score: 4, Funny

    from the National Geographic aritcle:
    It can't, for example, correct a misspelled word

     Slashdot must be running these DNA computers!

    --
    "the fax machine is nothing but a waffle iron with a phone attached to it." - Grandpa Simpson
  10. supercranial mentation by antiprime · · Score: 5, Funny

    My brain performs more than 330 trillion ops/sec (stuff like image analysis, speech recognition, "AI",...)

    The human brain has between 10 billion and 100 billion neurons. They can fire up to 100 times per second. 100 billion * 100/second is only 10 trillion per second.

    So we must assume that either:

    1. you have an enormous brain (3.3 trillion neurons would weigh about 50kg), or

    2. that they fire very quickly, (you overclocked your brain and run around with a heatsinking hat and have to eat 20x a day) or

    3. that you do some 'thinking' without using neurons.

    Hmm, that last option seems to be the most reasonable. How's that working out for you, anyway?

  11. Oh sure, yesterday we were compiling with Wine by kfg · · Score: 5, Funny

    Today we're computing with Denatured Alcohol.

    When will the madness end?

    KFG

  12. Re:Human brain by calyxa · · Score: 4, Funny

    you obviously haven't seen me throw a ball...

    -calyxa

    --
    Decay! Decay! Decay! -Helium