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A computer built with nature in mind could spell the end of the blue screen of death.
According to a report in New Scientist, the machine created by computer scientists at UCL works by dividing context-sensitive data and instructions into small systems, each with their own memory allocation.
The systemic computer then chooses the order in which to execute programs using a pseudorandom number generator. "[Nature's] processes are distributed, decentralised and probabilistic," said Peter Bentley, one of the machine's creators, to New Scientist. "And they are fault tolerant, able to heal themselves. A computer should be able to do that."
The self-healing is where the crash-proof idea comes in. By having memory units set aside for each individual system and by using duplicating systems which run key processes, even if the computer is unable to retrieve data from one, it will be able to go to another source and carry on running as normal. As a result the computer could offer a solution in situations such as combat where a crash can prove life-threatening.
The next step in the project involves teaching the computer to respond to its environment, altering its own code as a response to local changes.
Image: taberandrew / CC BY 2.0
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
