Post by Wes on Oct 18, 2010 11:50:18 GMT 10
University compares its self-healing computer idea to Terminator
THERE are plenty of scientists around the world who are working on getting computers to think for themselves.
But one group of researchers from the Technical University of Denmark is working on something equally terrifying.
They're trying to make a computer that can heal itself.
And the university's media team, at least, is taking the idea pretty seriously.
"Until now, this has been the stuff of pure science fiction, and what made the robots in the Terminator films so robust and fantastical on the big screen," they said in a press release.
"Now it's no longer science fiction."
However they may be exaggerating a bit. The group's idea has little to do with robotic assassins from the future.
What it's really about is changing the way computers interpret instructions and share their internal workload.
An artist's depiction of NASA's Mars Odyssey satellite in orbit over the red planet. Picture: NASA
It's called "eDNA" and it's inspired by biology.
The theory is that a computer should be made up of lots of cells, or "eCells", and it should be able to decide how to assign different jobs to each one.
Then, if one cell fails, another one can take over its job.
"In this way, an organism develops from the computer's cells, and it is this that makes the computer — almost — immortal," says Professor Jan Madsen.
The system can't actually physically repair dead cells, just reassign their jobs to new ones.
But, in theory, if it had enough spares it could tolerate quite a bit of damage before it died.
Anyone who's still creeped out by the idea should take comfort in the fact that eDNA's first test will be to find life, not destroy it.
NASA has asked a member of the research team to implement the theory in a piece of equipment designed to look for extraterrestrial life.
One of the university's PhD students, Michael Reibel Boesen, is currently working full-time at the space agency's Jet Propulsion Lab in California.
The lab is in charge of the Mars Odyssey satellite in orbit about the Red Planet which takes pictures of the surface and relays messages from the rovers on the ground.
"It's a boyhood dream come true," he said.
"My mission is to convince NASA that eDNA can make a satellite and the information it gathers and transmits back to Earth faster and more reliable."
So no T-1000 models yet. Just really tough satellites.
The T-1000 model Terminator from Terminator 2: Judgement Day is able to regenerate itself after being injured / TriStar Pictures
www.news.com.au/technology/university-compares-its-self-healing-computer-idea-to-terminator-but-may-be-exaggerating/story-e6frfro0-1225939157744
THERE are plenty of scientists around the world who are working on getting computers to think for themselves.
But one group of researchers from the Technical University of Denmark is working on something equally terrifying.
They're trying to make a computer that can heal itself.
And the university's media team, at least, is taking the idea pretty seriously.
"Until now, this has been the stuff of pure science fiction, and what made the robots in the Terminator films so robust and fantastical on the big screen," they said in a press release.
"Now it's no longer science fiction."
However they may be exaggerating a bit. The group's idea has little to do with robotic assassins from the future.
What it's really about is changing the way computers interpret instructions and share their internal workload.
An artist's depiction of NASA's Mars Odyssey satellite in orbit over the red planet. Picture: NASA
It's called "eDNA" and it's inspired by biology.
The theory is that a computer should be made up of lots of cells, or "eCells", and it should be able to decide how to assign different jobs to each one.
Then, if one cell fails, another one can take over its job.
"In this way, an organism develops from the computer's cells, and it is this that makes the computer — almost — immortal," says Professor Jan Madsen.
The system can't actually physically repair dead cells, just reassign their jobs to new ones.
But, in theory, if it had enough spares it could tolerate quite a bit of damage before it died.
Anyone who's still creeped out by the idea should take comfort in the fact that eDNA's first test will be to find life, not destroy it.
NASA has asked a member of the research team to implement the theory in a piece of equipment designed to look for extraterrestrial life.
One of the university's PhD students, Michael Reibel Boesen, is currently working full-time at the space agency's Jet Propulsion Lab in California.
The lab is in charge of the Mars Odyssey satellite in orbit about the Red Planet which takes pictures of the surface and relays messages from the rovers on the ground.
"It's a boyhood dream come true," he said.
"My mission is to convince NASA that eDNA can make a satellite and the information it gathers and transmits back to Earth faster and more reliable."
So no T-1000 models yet. Just really tough satellites.
The T-1000 model Terminator from Terminator 2: Judgement Day is able to regenerate itself after being injured / TriStar Pictures
www.news.com.au/technology/university-compares-its-self-healing-computer-idea-to-terminator-but-may-be-exaggerating/story-e6frfro0-1225939157744