On Sundays I offer comments on some of the most interesting information technology stories that I have found on the web that week. Please feel free to join in the discussion or suggest stories during the week.
This week’s story simply blew my mind. It is from the BBC and it is all about a team of researchers in Switzerland who are reverse engineering the human brain’s functions to develop a digital model of how each individual cell functions and communicates. You can read it here:
BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Simulated brain closer to thought .
I cannot recommend this article enough to my Information Professional readers. It is simply amazing to consider the implications of this work to the information processing field. The potential game changing developments to data storage, processing, fusion, and presentation are overwhelming.
There were some parts of the story that really surprised, though. First, the discussion of how their work was only being held back by money and processing power. I was amazed to find that they reported no research required to complete their work… only time, money, and computer cycles. Second, that they had already completed modeling complete subcenters of the mind. The implications to the medical field alone should be great. Finally, that the BBC was actually able to find people to state that they questioned the value of the intrinsic research. How could anyone not see the immediate benefits of this work?
Overall, I thought that this was an excellent example of the type of story that should be dominating the conversation of Information Professionals all around the globe. I hope that you enjoy it as well.
So I shared my opinions on this thought-provoking story… what do you think about it?
That is my Information Technology Thought of the Day (ITTOD) for April 26, 2009 ©Scott Coughlin .
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News Commentary: Simulated brain closer to thought
On Sundays I offer comments on some of the most interesting information technology stories that I have found on the web that week. Please feel free to join in the discussion or suggest stories during the week.
This week’s story simply blew my mind. It is from the BBC and it is all about a team of researchers in Switzerland who are reverse engineering the human brain’s functions to develop a digital model of how each individual cell functions and communicates. You can read it here:
BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Simulated brain closer to thought .
I cannot recommend this article enough to my Information Professional readers. It is simply amazing to consider the implications of this work to the information processing field. The potential game changing developments to data storage, processing, fusion, and presentation are overwhelming.
There were some parts of the story that really surprised, though. First, the discussion of how their work was only being held back by money and processing power. I was amazed to find that they reported no research required to complete their work… only time, money, and computer cycles. Second, that they had already completed modeling complete subcenters of the mind. The implications to the medical field alone should be great. Finally, that the BBC was actually able to find people to state that they questioned the value of the intrinsic research. How could anyone not see the immediate benefits of this work?
Overall, I thought that this was an excellent example of the type of story that should be dominating the conversation of Information Professionals all around the globe. I hope that you enjoy it as well.
So I shared my opinions on this thought-provoking story… what do you think about it?
That is my Information Technology Thought of the Day (ITTOD) for April 26, 2009 ©Scott Coughlin .
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
This entry was posted by Scott Coughlin on April 26, 2009 at 5:23 am, and is filed under Hardware, Information Age, News Commentary. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0.You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.