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Computer Made From DNA And Enzymes

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.

9 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.

  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. 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?

  4. 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!
  5. 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?

  6. 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