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Brain-Inspired Computer Made From Duroquinone

Posted by kdawson on from the controlling-nano-bots dept.

hasu notes that scientists at the National Institute for Materials Science at Tsukuba in Japan have created a device, consisting of 17 duroquinone molecules on a gold surface, that can in theory encode 4.3 billion outcomes. The "device" does not constitute a practical computer, since it requires both a scanning tunneling microscope and operation near absolute zero. A single duroquinone is surrounded by sixteen others, and weak chemical bonds allow a pulse to the central molecule to shift all seventeen molecules in a variety of ways. Each duroquinone has four different "settings," so a single pulse can have 4^16 possible outcomes. As a demonstration the researchers docked 8 other nano-devices to their 17-molecule computer. It is unclear how well they have characterized the inputs that result in 4.3 billion different outputs. They are working on a 3D design that would have 1,024 duroquinone molecules surrounding a central one.

77 comments

  1. Medical nano bots by NMajik · · Score: 0, Interesting

    Given the current state of this technology (requiring a STM and very low temperatures) I question how soon, if ever, this type of "computer" will become useful for independent nano bots, especially within the human body or other non-ideal environment. However, for working on a molecular scale to control things in a lab, this technology seems to have more immediate promise.

  2. Elaboration Please by BlueCollarCamel · · Score: 1, Redundant

    Could someone tell me what they mean by "operation near absolute zero."?

    --
    1&1 - Cheap domain and web hosting.
    1. Re:Elaboration Please by jtev · · Score: 4, Informative

      Well, Absolute Zero is a temperature that has been extrapolated from the ideal gas law. It is the temperature at which all kinetic energy in the molecules of a substance reaches 0. For more information on Absolute Zero, and teperature scales based on it take a look at this wikipedia page and please do not expect the rest of us to do you thinking for you in the future.

      --
      That which is done from love exists beyond good and evil
    2. Re:Elaboration Please by psychicninja · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Could someone tell me what they mean by "operation near absolute zero."?

      It means bring your coat...

    3. Re:Elaboration Please by stuporglue · · Score: 5, Funny

      It will only work when run in a super cold freezer or, possibly, in Canada.

      Really cold : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolute_zero

      --
      https://www.facebook.com/digitizeicm -- Show your support for the digitization of the Iron County Miner newspaper archiv
    4. Re:Elaboration Please by vecctor · · Score: 1

      The computer has to be run at very low temperatures.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolute_Zero

      That quantum computer that made news a while ago was the same way.

      --
      Why, yes I have been touched by His noodly appendage. And I plan to sue.
    5. Re:Elaboration Please by Shagg · · Score: 1

      They mean it needs to be at a temperature close to -460F. In other words... it'll be way too expensive to turn the AC in your house down that far.

      --
      Unix is user friendly, it's just selective about who its friends are.
    6. Re:Elaboration Please by ElizabethGreene · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Yes, that is what "absolute zero" means. "Near absolute zero" means the temperature at which the ambient energy within the molecules is less than what would be required to force the logical gates into a non-random state. The paper will certainly elaborate on their exact methodology, but I will hazard an uneducated guess. It probably means operating in a partial vacuum or inert atmosphere and the plate was probably immersed or plumbed in Liquid Helium (boiling point 3.2-4.2 Kelvin depending on the isotope.

      In the grand scheme of nanotechnology, this is a fairly remarkable step up from IBM's "Wright Brothers'" moment when they spelled their name with an STEM. It is a functioning computer at >100nm. Cool.

      -Ellie

    7. Re:Elaboration Please by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tuesday's coming? Does the computer live in a giant bucket?

    8. Re:Elaboration Please by smallfries · · Score: 1

      The paper is quite strange, it reads like someone very skilled in physics and chemistry trying (and failing a little) to explain basic computational theory. Their results are really interesting, and this does look like a leap forward, but not the one being reported. The authors don't understand SIMD processing and keep claiming that their advance is the ability to control the 16 molecules in parallel. But the computational model applies the same state change to each of the 16 molecules (which are esssentially a 4-state FSM).

      Obviously we can do SIMD manipulations in silicon so that claim is a little hollow. What they've built is strange - it's not quite a memory and not quite a computer. But it is obviously an advance in the state of the art. The STM is used for I/O but all of the processing is done within the constructed molecules. This is quite exciting and the authors are confident that they can expand it to a bigger system. So although the I/O is currently infeasible, the actual computing part does seem realistic.

      If I've understood the paper properly then by firing 2-bit commands at the CCU (central molecule) they can cause 16 related commands to be sent to the connected molecules. So this isn't direct storage / retrieval into a memory. They've shown that they can walk through 2^32 distinct states in the array, but getting to a particular point would require knowledge of your starting position and how to walk the state-space. The controlled flipping of the external molecules does look like the basis of control logic for a processor (although it doesn't yet do "computation").

      If anyone else has access to the paper then I would recommend reading it as the description of how chemical changes in the molecules are used to encode state changes is amazing. One of the most impressive things that I've read and it sounds like the basis for real computer engineering at the molecular level.

      PS. I actually logged into work to read the paper and answer your question about temperature but I can't see it in the paper. On a quick second pass I do notice that the STM is only used to precisely apply a voltage difference over the CCU, which sounds like something that could be replaced to take it out of the lab - the temperature range and noise in the system is probably the killer

      --
      Slashdot: where don knuth is an idiot because he cant grasp the awesome power of php
    9. Re:Elaboration Please by ElizabethGreene · · Score: 1

      Our firewall was blocking the paper, but I'll definitely take a look. I'm signed up for Cryonics so I have a huge vested interest in working nanotech.

      -ellie

    10. Re:Elaboration Please by rbanffy · · Score: 1

      I do a lot of thinking for others. People call it consulting.

      --
      http://www.dieblinkenlights.com
    11. Re:Elaboration Please by Jens+Egon · · Score: 1

      What they've built is strange - it's not quite a memory and not quite a computer.

      It sounds a lot like a logical gate array to me. (In function, that is.)

      Still, the physical size of it is very impressive.

  3. But... by BrunoBigfoot · · Score: 4, Funny

    will it run Linux?

    1. Re:But... by tux_attack · · Score: 1

      If you mean KDE with shinyness, heck no. Command line, maybe.

    2. Re:But... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      If you mean KDE with shinyness, heck no.
      Command line, maybe. I'd go with IceWM, considering the temperature requirements.
    3. Re:But... by ady1 · · Score: 1

      Given TFA shows it to be more like a nanobot than a computer.

    4. Re:But... by Albert+Sandberg · · Score: 1

      will it run Linux?

      question is, will it create linux?

    5. Re:But... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      heeeeeeeeheeeee... it runs netbsd

    6. Re:But... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      will it blend?

  4. So it can store an integer up to 4.3 billion? by CrazyJim1 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Doesn't sound like impressive computing. But hey, anyone doing research is at least doing something with their time.

    --
    God spoke to me.
    1. Re:So it can store an integer up to 4.3 billion? by MozeeToby · · Score: 3, Interesting

      This is their wimpy 16 part prototype. Eventually, they hope to control 1024 parts, allowing them to store 4^1024 bits of data with a single pulse... in a single molecule.

    2. Re:So it can store an integer up to 4.3 billion? by imamac · · Score: 1

      Then can I have a lot more storage sace on my iPhone? My really cold iPhone?

    3. Re:So it can store an integer up to 4.3 billion? by JLF65 · · Score: 4, Informative

      You got confused by the article. It's not 4.3 billion states, it's ONE out of 4.3 billion states. In other words, it's equivalent to about 32 bits of storage, or log2(4^16). Similarly, the 1024 molecule structure will not hold the equivalent of 4^1024 bits, but only log2(4^1024) bits.

    4. Re:So it can store an integer up to 4.3 billion? by dissy · · Score: 1

      So it can store an integer up to 4.3 billion?
      Doesn't sound like impressive computing. How large of an integer have -you- stored in only 1 atom today? ;}

      Seriously though, its not the amount or size of data here thats the break through, its the method they are using to store it, which actually is quite impressive.

      Imagine when they get this ramped up to a thousand, or ten thousand atoms, which will still be invisible to the naked eye, and store many integers up to mind boggling values.

      I don't foresee this ramping up hard drive storage in the next hundred years, but there are still plenty of uses. Quantum computers alone might find this handy for storage of non quantum data (IE input or finished output), considering they need cooled to this level anyways.
      Not to mention all the good yummy science that can come out of it on the side.
    5. Re:So it can store an integer up to 4.3 billion? by PingPongBoy · · Score: 1

      Doesn't sound like impressive computing

      Well, look at it this way. The serial bus on your computer can transmit either a 0 or a 1 followed by more of the same so it takes N transmissions to transmit N bits. However, if you can transmit any number between 0 and 4^16-1 then you can transmit 32 bits in one shot, and N bits in N/32 shots. Now, how many shots per second can be made depends on how fast the encoding can occur after a lasering. At the molecular size, it could be fast, but near absolute zero maybe it's slow. But to transport the molecules over a channel, it might not be like voltage either, but rather a like a freight train, who knows? If the processing units are close together, it could be hard to keep the temperature down, and if the processing units are farther apart, this might be an easier way to transport large chunks of data all at once.

      Another application may be parallel computing. Suppose you can encode 32 bits at once with a molecular construct. Then if you make an row of 32 or 64 of these encoders, you can encode the partial computations of 32 threads that an x86 machine might do. A chain of rows can form a pipeline. The details are left as an exercise requiring venture capital.

      --
      Know your pads. One time pad: good for cryptography. Two timing pad: where to take your mistress.
    6. Re:So it can store an integer up to 4.3 billion? by MozeeToby · · Score: 1

      Touché, I stand corrected.

  5. obligatory by ConfusedMonkey · · Score: 0

    I for one welcome our frozen, gold plated robotic overlords.

  6. Nano by Dr.+Eggman · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Nanotechnology? That's so early 2000's, we're onto picotechnology now!

    Seriously, though, this is incredibly small! The molecular computation machiniery necessary to direct our nanomachines are going to be far more interesting, challenging, and incredible than the nanomachines themselves.

    --
    Demented But Determined.
    1. Re:Nano by Dr.+Eggman · · Score: 1

      Oops, I misread the article. The molecule is two billionths of a metre, which is 2 nanometers. I thought the nano-machines docking with the molecule were that size. Still! That's, what, 200 picometeres, so its just really large picotechnology!

      --
      Demented But Determined.
    2. Re:Nano by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      2 nanometers would be 2000 picometers.

      A typical 4 cylinder engine might be close to 1 meter long. Still! That's, what, 1000000000000 picometers, so internal comustion engines are just really large picotechnology!

    3. Re:Nano by Ardeaem · · Score: 2, Funny

      Nanotechnology? That's so early 2000's, we're onto picotechnology now! Only lamers use picotechnology. I prefer emacstechnology myself.
    4. Re:Nano by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Emacs is an amazing operating system, truly. If only it had a decent text editor. :)

  7. Video and model by whitehatlurker · · Score: 5, Informative

    This is a bit more graphical than TFA: http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/03/10/748041.aspx

    --
    .. paranoid crackpot leftover from the days of Amiga.
  8. Encode This by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll


    4-Dollar-A-Gallon-Gasoline?

    Report some news instead of your daily drivel.

  9. So, how's it not practical? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    The "device" does not constitute a practical computer, since it requires both a scanning tunneling microscope and operation near absolute zero. I'm failing to see how that's practical. Surely a mother-in-law's nagging works as the microscope, and the region of her body associated with a heart in most people would suffice for the temperature.
  10. State of the art??!?? by EmbeddedJanitor · · Score: 3, Funny

    I thought the state of the art way to make brains involved copulaton.

    --
    Engineering is the art of compromise.
  11. Very cool by No2Gates · · Score: 1

    It can help keep my beer cold. Very cold.

    --
    Every time you call tech support, a little kitten dies.
  12. A woman's heart? by SmallFurryCreature · · Score: 1

    Me bitter? Nah. I still think they got one don't I? Marks me as a romantic fool that.

    --

    MMO Quests are like orgasms:

    You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.

  13. Re:But... What would it do for Brock's Spain in by davidsyes · · Score: 1

    Or, Bock's Sprain? Or, was that "Spock's Brain"?

    " The machine is made from 17 molecules of the chemical duroquinone. Each one is known as a "logic device".

    They each resemble a ring with four protruding spokes that can be independently rotated to represent four different states."

    Would they be: Liquid, Gas, Solid, Kinetic/Memetic or Magnetic/Frenetic?

    And, if you built one of these for Frankenstein, and it crashed from over-guttural grunting, would it be Blankenstein?

    Can they be used to create drones, or upgrade government drones already in existence? Can they be trusted with weapons, and to guard the infrastructure?

    Inquiring organic minds want to know...

    --
    Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
  14. Good physics = Bad medicine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    From the article:

    "For years, nanotechnology has held out the hope of molecular-scale contraptions that can manufacture custom-made drugs or revolutionize the way computer chips work."

    Why is it that every breakthrough in nano-structures and computation immediately gets pinned with creating new drugs. Don't speculators and reporters have something else on their mind besides designer drugs? Oh wait... they don't.

    1. Re:Good physics = Bad medicine by avandesande · · Score: 1

      I have to agree with this one. Is bioimformatics processor constrained right now? I doubt it.

      --
      love is just extroverted narcissism
  15. Re:So it can store an integer Expressive... by davidsyes · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's EXpressive: Mathematical AND artistic.

    But, if they use it in bugs, and they abandon their masters, it will give a new meaning to "buggin out". If they emerge from a wig-wearing woman, then we literally have "wiggin out".

    But, as for expressionism.... do you want IMpressionism?

    --
    Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
  16. Wow, 4.3 billion states? by Kaz+Kylheku · · Score: 3, Insightful

    That's like, 2^32.

    Is this really a computer? Or 32 bits worth of really impractical memory? :)

    1. Re:Wow, 4.3 billion states? by Toonol · · Score: 4, Informative

      Exactly right. Each of the sixteen molecules plays the role of two bits. They've made four bytes of ram.

      It's good that they're researching this; maybe someday it'll lead to faster, more compact storage. But when they release statements about how they can store "4.3 billion different states", they seem to be trying to market themselves. You can do the same with 32 pennies.

    2. Re:Wow, 4.3 billion states? by JLF65 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      :)

      You noticed that as well. I replied as much to a post above. Scientists have ways of making their "discoveries" seem much more impressive than they really are. It helps keep the grant money coming in. After all, which sounds more impressive?

      "I've made a 32 bit register that requires a room-size microscope and refrigerator to operate."

      "I've made a molecular 'brain' that holds over FOUR BILLION states!"

    3. Re:Wow, 4.3 billion states? by eggfoolr · · Score: 2, Funny

      Imagine how long the primary elections would take with that many States!

      Hilary might just have a chance.

    4. Re:Wow, 4.3 billion states? by PieceofLavalamp · · Score: 1

      well we're only going to need 640k of ram anyway, seems like a good start

  17. Re:But... What would it do for Brock's Spain in by JLF65 · · Score: 1

    They clearly mean four different logical states as they call the molecules logical devices.

  18. Imagine... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    ... a Beow -- aww, nevermind.

  19. wait by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    what the hell did I just read?

  20. Some kind of robot or battlesuit, right? by spun · · Score: 3, Funny

    I thought the state of the art way to make brains involved copulaton. Ah, Copulaton, my favorite Autobot. Or was it a Gundam?
    --
    - None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
    1. Re:Some kind of robot or battlesuit, right? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      I'm fairly sure it was a Pharaoh.

  21. Mod parent down for being obnoxious asswipe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    and please do not expect the rest of us to do you thinking for you in the future.

    Suck my cock. I hope the next time you get a flat tire it's in the middle of the desert, you find a cellphone, and the battery has only 20 seconds left on it.

    1. Re:Mod parent down for being obnoxious asswipe by jtev · · Score: 1

      What does a cell phone have to do with a flat tire. A far more witty comeback would have been "The next time you get a flat tire I hope it's in the middle of the desert, and you realise that you droped your 4-way a few miles back, and your spare is flat" However the sort of creative cruelty that I've come to expect from Slashdot is clearly lacking from you. Now, if you'd care to try for a proper insult, please, go ahead, I have a quite thick skin, but at least make things make sense. Though, if you actualy are meaning that I'm incapable of changing a flat by myself, I think you might have more issues than simply being unable to come up with a proper dig. Thank you for trying. Oh, and please, log in next time you try to start a flame war with me, I find them far more entertaining when my partner is informed of my posts, so that they can do something resembling defending themselves.

      --
      That which is done from love exists beyond good and evil
    2. Re:Mod parent down for being obnoxious asswipe by santiagodraco · · Score: 1

      Anon, don't let Jtev throw you off your pace. It's obvious he's suffering from self esteem issues (generally characterized by a condescending attitude towards others and an effort to appear "intelligent" or to "lecture" others on correct behavior. The interesting thing is how these types of individuals will take the time to post on a forum, appear to be a good natured person at the beginning (by providing "helpful" info", then poison the whole thing with the aforementioned negative and destructive behavior.

      Unfortunately this is the type of thing that keeps people who are looking for information from asking. It's also a tool for these unfortunate persons (like Jtev) to live vicariously through these forum persona's they create since, generally, they have no real friends. I mean would you want to hang out with a guy like Jtev?

    3. Re:Mod parent down for being obnoxious asswipe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unfortunately this is the type of thing that keeps people who are looking for information from asking. That might make sense if wikipedia or google insulted the guy for asking them their question.
      However if one stops properly asking questions (or as the guy he was answering did, improperly asking) every time someone tells them there is a much better way (or any way is better) method to do it, then you deserve what you get.

      Smart people gave that person every possible tool to answer his own question.
      Hell, you can hilight 'absolute zero' in firefox, right click, and do a google search right then and there!

      If someone does not by now realize search engines and info databases (AKA google and wikipedia) exist, perhaps they shouldn't be using technical sites like slashdot.

    4. Re:Mod parent down for being obnoxious asswipe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      If someone does not by now realize search engines and info databases (AKA google and wikipedia) exist, perhaps they shouldn't be using technical sites like slashdot.

      More to the point, if someone doesn't know what absolute zero means, perhaps they shouldn't be using technical sites like slashdot.

  22. How is that a computer? by pavon · · Score: 1

    I'm trying to understand how something like this could be used to implement a turing-complete device, and I'm not seeing it. The examples given in the article make it sound more like a serial to parallel converter, not a computer.

    1. Re:How is that a computer? by pavon · · Score: 1

      Oops, I lost some of my post. Obviously, this is similar to a neuron, however only if the outputs of one device can be fed into the inputs of another, which doesn't appear to be the case since the outputs only have 4 states each, and the input has 4^16 possibilities. If they also had the opposite of this device which took multiple inputs and created an output, then they could chain them together in a neural-net configuration.

  23. Re:But... What would it do for Brock's Spain in by davidsyes · · Score: 1

    Obviously I was crafting puns on Star Trek history:

    Kirk (toward Spock): YOU are ILLOGICAL
    Boma (referring to Spock): I'm sick and TIRED of taking orders from this MACHINE!

    --
    Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
  24. Re:But... What would it do for Brock's Spain in by veganboyjosh · · Score: 0, Troll

    Education actually
    destroys the analytial Brain,
    leaving only a single brain
    perspective android servility.
    Educators who suppress the
    Harmonic Time Cube 4 Day
    4 corner Earth simultaneous
    rotation should be ki...., for
    they threaten all humanity.

  25. Make a great D&D Number Generator by Quiet_Desperation · · Score: 2, Funny

    I heard on the first test it rolled a 20.

  26. Re:But... What would it do for Brock's Spain in by JLF65 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Clearly, but every funny man needs a straight man. :D

  27. Yeah, duroquinone. I know all about those! by YourMotherCalled · · Score: -1

    ?????

    (I guess /. doesn't like having only question marks in a comment.)

  28. Well... by jd · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The world's first stored-program computer only stored 32 words, where one word was 40 bits in length, making this 1/40th of the capacity of Alan Turing's "Baby" (aka Manchester Mk. 1) computer. Seriously, though, this is impressive in the sense that they got the thing to work at all. Storing and recovering data from a device this small is non-trivial, especially if they've got the read to be non-destructive. At this scale, the impact of carrying out the observation is non-trivial. If they need to cool to near absolute zero, it's obviously delicate enough that they need to damp down everything to keep the system working. But precisely because almost anything can be kept constant at that temperature, I'd consider this "cheating" a little. You could probably store and recover data on almost any sufficiently uniform structure if nothing is moving.

    --
    It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
  29. brain inspired? by hotarugari · · Score: 1

    I think they mean inspired BY the brain, not inspired to work AS the brain. Unless of course, you're playing twister.

  30. ...partnering with Windows by purpleraison · · Score: 1

    ...and in further news, this technology has been partnered with substantial funding and research by the Microsoft corporation to develop the smallest 'blue-screen-of-death' ever. Bringing the term 'brain-freeze' a whole new meaning.

    --
    I am open source, and Linux baby!
  31. Re: Elaboration on Absolute Zero by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    The First Law says you can't win; the best you can do is break even.

    The Second Law says you can break even only at absolute zero.

    The Third Law says you can never reach absolute zero.

    (Quoted from Walter J. Moore, Physical Chemistry, 4th Edition, 1972.)

  32. This has already been done... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    Virtual Reality made from Jamiroquai

  33. Memory vs Computation by ruin20 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Depending on the nature of the weak chemical bond and how the 16 molecules respond the slight charge, you might actually see different states for different charges which leads to input output relationship. It sounds like when you rotate one of the molecules, the others change appropriately. It's possible then that you could structure the molecules in such a way that you could form logic gates where you'd set two of them and a chain would produce a series of logical operators, however it also seems to function in base four, so it would have to be a fuzzy logic. And with that I've reached my thinking quota for today.

    --
    Oh honey look... How cute... an angry slashdotter!
  34. This sounds very weak by s_p_oneil · · Score: 1

    This is not a computer, this is 4 bytes of memory. 4^16 is the same as 2^32.

  35. Anyone else notice the three... by WallaceAndGromit · · Score: 1

    Anyone else notice the three sequential posts referencing the wikipedia absolute zero article that were posted right in a row and at the same time? Spooky.

    --
    Name: Mr. Anon E Mouse; SSN: 555-55-5555
  36. Re:But... What would it do for Brock's Spain in by lilomar · · Score: 1

    Is a meme dead when it gets modded as troll?

    --
    The creator of this post (Jacob Smith) hereby releases it, and all of his other posts, into the public domain.
  37. Inaccurate Summary? by Tavor · · Score: 1

    Of all the stories on Google News about this event, Slashdot's summary is the only one mentioning this molecular computer having to run near absolute zero. In fact, other articles mention this device being made near absolute zero, but not requiring cold for operation.

    So I did a little test. I went to Google news and searched for "computer duroquinone".
    Then I searched for "http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hs=lJI&resnum=0&um=1&resnum=1&ct=title&q=Computer+Duroquinone+zero&btnG=Search+News">computer duroquinone zero. Notice when you add zero -- for absolute zero -- only Slashdot's story summary returns.

    --
    Windows has detected an undetectable error.
  38. brains in jars by rice_burners_suck · · Score: 1

    dude. why don't they just take a brain from one of those people who donates their body to science (after the person passes away, of course), and hook it up to a bunch of connectors and whatnot that would allow it to interface to a regular computer system! then you could have a network of brains in jars figuring stuff out, as opposed to server rooms full of hot electronic computers doing their whole number crunching thing.

  39. I always said that KDE is better by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    yeah! now you have a set of weird nerdy "supercomp" molecules to prove that!
    hah! gnome should learn from this ;-)