Brain-Inspired Computer Made From Duroquinone

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.

State of the art??!??

[EmbeddedJanitor]

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

Some kind of robot or battlesuit, right?

[spun]

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

Ah, Copulaton, my favorite Autobot. Or was it a Gundam?

Elaboration Please

[BlueCollarCamel]

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

Re:Elaboration Please

[jtev]

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

Re:

[jtev]

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 actua

Re:

[santiagodraco]

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 behav

Re:

[ElizabethGreene]

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

Re:

[smallfries]

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 esssential

Re:

[ElizabethGreene]

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

Re:

[Jens Egon]

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.

Re:

[rbanffy]

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

Re:

[psychicninja]

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

It means bring your coat [wikipedia.org]...

Re:Elaboration Please

[stuporglue]

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

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

A woman's heart?

[SmallFurryCreature]

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

Re:

[vecctor]

The computer has to be run at very low temperatures.

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

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

Anyone else notice the three...

[WallaceAndGromit]

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.

Re:

[Shagg]

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.

But...

[BrunoBigfoot]

will it run Linux?

Re:

[tux_attack]

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

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

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

I'd go with IceWM, considering the temperature requirements.

Re:But... What would it do for Brock's Spain in

[davidsyes]

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 upgra

Re:

[JLF65]

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

Re:

[davidsyes]

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!

Re:

[JLF65]

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

Re:

[veganboyjosh]

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

Re:

[lilomar]

Is a meme dead when it gets modded as troll?

Re:

[ady1]

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

Re:

[Albert Sandberg]

will it run Linux?

question is, will it create linux?

So it can store an integer up to 4.3 billion?

[CrazyJim1]

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

Re:So it can store an integer up to 4.3 billion?

[MozeeToby]

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.

Re:

[imamac]

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

Re:So it can store an integer up to 4.3 billion?

[JLF65]

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.

Re:

[MozeeToby]

Touché, I stand corrected.

Re:So it can store an integer Expressive...

[davidsyes]

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?

Re:

[dissy]

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 us

Re:

[PingPongBoy]

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

Nano

[Dr. Eggman]

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.

Re:

[Dr. Eggman]

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!

Re:

[Ardeaem]

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

Only lamers use picotechnology. I prefer emacstechnology myself.

Video and model

[whitehatlurker]

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

So, how's it not practical?

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

Very cool

[No2Gates]

It can help keep my beer cold. Very cold.

Re:

[avandesande]

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

Wow, 4.3 billion states?

[Kaz Kylheku]

That's like, 2^32.

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

Re:Wow, 4.3 billion states?

[Toonol]

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.

Re:

[PieceofLavalamp]

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

Re:Wow, 4.3 billion states?

[JLF65]

:)

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!"

Re:

[eggfoolr]

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

Hilary might just have a chance.

Well...

[jd]

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.

How is that a computer?

[pavon]

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.

Re:

[pavon]

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.

Make a great D&D Number Generator

[Quiet_Desperation]

I heard on the first test it rolled a 20.

brain inspired?

[hotarugari]

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

...partnering with Windows

[purpleraison]

...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.

Memory vs Computation

[ruin20]

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 functi

This sounds very weak

[s_p_oneil]

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

Inaccurate Summary?

[Tavor]

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 [yahoo.com] 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 [google.com]".
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&resnu

brains in jars

[rice_burners_suck]

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.