Computational Bacteria

[questio verum]

Will we someday grow our computers in a petri dish? Well, probably not the whole computer, per se But there are a number of different research teams harvesting information and conducting investigations into using naturally-occuring phenomena such as bacteria and vegetation for computing. Check this out. This is not the first story I've encountered on this. Could genetic engineering bend nature's will to serve us in a new way? I'll take a dozen x86_64 spores and a 3 dozen stalks of SATA 4 cable please.

qv

[D-cat]

There's also the field of nano-production machines.
Productive Nanosystems (From molecules to superproducts)

[JillSwift]

Oh, that would figure. I fail maths in university and now they go and tech bacteria how to do it.
Very embarrassing.

[teenytinylinuxgrl]

The people at Star Trek thought it first.... didn't the starship Voyager use bio-gel paks in its design? Not that I'm a major Trekkie but I think I remembered this right, lol

Amy

[meton_magis]

A girl who just quoted an episode of star trek to relate to a topic on a linux forum about theoretical computer science ..... I think I'm in love.

[lucho]

Oh, that would figure. I fail maths in university and now they go and tech bacteria how to do it.
Very embarrassing.

You and me both.

But if we start making computers out of bacteria, do we still have to worry about viruses?

[teenytinylinuxgrl]

Kinda gives a whole new meaning to "anti-virus" now, doesn't it? And treatment for computers that "get sick" may be alot trickier.

Oh - I just remembered! In an episode of Star Trek TNG (even before Voyager I think) there was a device which stored vast amounts of information in the form of inert proteins as tool of espianage. A spy could inject himself or someone else with the secrets he stole. "The body itself becomes a conveyor of classified information," says Admiral Satee in The Drumhead.

I just saw a rerun of it and thought of this thread!

Not to encourage any romance or anything, lol, but I do enjoy all the techno-banter of Star Trek that makes the outrageously fantastic seem perfectly believable. In the words of Captian Picard (to Q), "I see us one day becoming that" and maybe more.

Oh... by the way, is LCARS open source?

giggles,
Amy

[lucho]

Kinda gives a whole new meaning to "anti-virus" now, doesn't it? And treatment for computers that "get sick" may be alot trickier.

Well, we already know that Norton Antivirus is a case of the cure being worse than the disease

I never saw more than half of the episodes of ST:TNG (and none of Voyager ); do you remember the name of the episode ( The Drumhead )? I'm more of a Battletech guy. Yeah, it's a wargame, but it sounds like you would adore the novels.

[JillSwift]

Introducing OpenLeukocytes, the free computational immune system.

[meton_magis]

Kinda gives a whole new meaning to "anti-virus" now, doesn't it? And treatment for computers that "get sick" may be alot trickier.

Oh - I just remembered! In an episode of Star Trek TNG (even before Voyager I think) there was a device which stored vast amounts of information in the form of inert proteins as tool of espianage. A spy could inject himself or someone else with the secrets he stole. "The body itself becomes a conveyor of classified information," says Admiral Satee in The Drumhead.

I just saw a rerun of it and thought of this thread!

Not to encourage any romance or anything, lol, but I do enjoy all the techno-banter of Star Trek that makes the outrageously fantastic seem perfectly believable. In the words of Captian Picard (to Q), "I see us one day becoming that" and maybe more.

Oh... by the way, is LCARS open source?

giggles,
Amy

I'd have to imagine that since the federation abolished currency, and works for the good of the people as a whole, that there would be no patents on anything. So yeah, LCARS would most likely have been open source, since there would be no profit in keeping it closed. I'm not sure if you'd be able to install a custom spin on any federation vessels, but you could probably modify it as you please for civilian stuff.

Then again, it could be more soviet in nature, and everything be a secret of the government, where only by serving the government do you get to use their precious software.