BlueGene Simulates half a mouse brain

[Jimmy 2004]

IBM's supercomputer Blue Gene/L has been used to run a 'cortical simulator' as complex as half of a mouse brain. The researchers say that their work has shown characteristics of thought patterns observed in real mouse brains, and are now working on improving the simulation to allow it to run faster in order to make it more neurobiologically faithful. Blue Gene/L is one of four Blue Gene projects in development and is the fastest computer in the world with a theoretical peak of 360 TFLOPS. Using 4,096 processors, each with 256MB of memory, the team managed to create a virtual mouse brain that had 8,000 neurons with up to 6,300 synapses each. Real mouse brains will have about 16,000 neurons which can have up to 8,000 synapses (connections with other nerve fibres) each.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[mandelore]

holy shit, thats pretty damn cool, here come the borg

 

[jocksteeluk]

these people wont be happy until they create some kind of supper smart self sufficient thinking computer that will turn rogue and kill us all but apart from that id say good wo rk

 

[mandelore]

these people wont be happy until they create some kind of supper smart self sufficient thinking computer that will turn rogue and kill us all but apart from that id say good wo rk

yup, matrix any1?

Edit: although, seriously, this bodes GREAT for us, if we can shrink these down to implant sized they can help brain damaged individuals, or even allow us to have "skill" implants (sorta like eve-online)

 

[OnBoard]

yup, matrix any1?

Edit: although, seriously, this bodes GREAT for us, if we can shrink these down to implant sized they can help brain damaged individuals, or even allow us to have "skill" implants (sorta like eve-online)

When they say "computer" they mean a computer farm linked together. Even 4 prosessor in one mobo that would mean 1000 server racks (or what ever they use). Shrinking to even one desktop size is near impossible for a loooooong time, implant size is utopia But some basic motor funktions and or sight might well be possible some day. They have already made blind people see a veryverylow resolution balck&while image.

edit: some pics
http://www.rug.nl/rc/diensten/system_services/nieuwsbrief/200504/bouwbluegene-buildup-800x571.jpg
http://www.fz-juelich.de/zam/index.php?path=ibm-bgl/configuration&index=2016&print=1
http://www.computerbase.de/bild/news/14042/1/

 

[mandelore]

When they say "computer" they mean a computer farm linked together. Even 4 prosessor in one mobo that would mean 1000 server racks (or what ever they use). Shrinking to even one desktop size is near impossible for a loooooong time, implant size is utopia But some basic motor funktions and or sight might well be possible some day. They have already made blind people see a veryverylow resolution balck&while image.

actually the vision is colour now optomised by built in microprocessor

 

[Seany1212]

these people wont be happy until they create some kind of supper smart self sufficient thinking computer that will turn rogue and kill us all but apart from that id say good wo rk

OMG, the terminator is coming

 

[OnBoard]

actually the vision is colour now optomised by built in microprocessor

Oh nice! Can't even imagine what it would be like to see some roses for example, when you've been blind for years, besides just smelling them.

 

[mandelore]

Oh nice! Can't even imagine what it would be like to see some roses for example, when you've been blind for years, besides just smelling them.

yeah, not soundin soppy, but i would imagine that would be the most beautiful aspect of technological advances this century

 

[Batou1986]

wow so now there is a computer smarter than me

 

[evil bill]

ah, the best laid plans of mice.................

 

[WarEagleAU]

nice work. Pretty soon Cyborgs will kill us all!!!!! ::jk::

 

[demonbrawn]

I really don't find this funny. This is something I have had nightmares about since I was a kid. It freaks me out that this is a real possibility. Irrational fears anyone?

 

[Nemesis881]

Brains are SOO much more complicated than a computer imo. There are also huge differences between the two. For example, you can teach a 4 year old kid what the letter "E" looks like. You can then draw it in different styles on a piece of paper and they will still recognize it as an E. This is nearly an impossible feat for a computer.

 

[Exceededgoku]

Brains are SOO much more complicated than a computer imo. There are also huge differences between the two. For example, you can teach a 4 year old kid what the letter "E" looks like. You can then draw it in different styles on a piece of paper and they will still recognize it as an E. This is nearly an impossible feat for a computer.

this isn't a computer... it's essentially a mapped mind.

 

[Fleekar]

A teacher of mine who saw one of those " Did you know " goodies said that its predicted
that computers will surpass the human brain in 2027 or something.

I tried looking for this online and all I found this:

"Nevertheless, we can imagine this hypothetical future point in time given by the population model and Extropians call it the Singularity. A "singularity" is a break in the continuity of something, like a sudden jump in the value of a function, or a black hole, a place where the laws of General Relativity break down. The "singularity" anticipated by Extropians will occur around the year 2027, and it represents a point in our future beyond which we cannot make any predictions of what life will be like. That is the extent of the transformation that Extropians imagine.

This number 2027 is actually an average of several different predictions, of which the population model is one example. There are several other measures of human development or progress that also seem to predict an infinite value or some other sort of paradox, and remarkably they all predict a point in time about 30 years in the future. It is the belief of the Extropians that this coincidence is actually the result of a common cause, that the human race is indeed headed towards a sudden transformation of some kind.

If you take the rate of increase in computer speed (which is an exponential function) and extrapolate forward to the year when an average-priced home computer will be powerful enough to simulate a human brain through explicit modeling of all the neurons, you get 2025. If the necessary software has been developed too (an almost-certainty) then we'll be dealing with the slavery debate all over again.

Occurrance of major "revolutions" in human potential: "

Kind of relates to it but im not sure. Im not an extropianist nor do I know enough about computers.

Article found here http://home.earthlink.net/~mrob/pub/extropianism.html


Also seems that some movies/stories use the year 2027, interesting:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2027#2027_in_fiction



"The human brains consists of more than 100 billion neurons (nerve cells) through which the brain's commands are sent in the form of electric pulses. These pulses travel at more than 400 km/h (250 mph), creating enough electricity to power a lightbulb. The brain consumes more energy than any other organ, burning up a whopping one-fifth of the food we take in.

It is estimated that the mental capacity of a 100-year old human with perfect memory could be represented by computer with 10 to the power of 15 bits (one petabit). At the current rate of computer chip development, that figure can be reached in about 35 years. However, that represents just memory capacity, not the extremely complex processes of thought creation and emotions.

But consider this: for all the complexity of the brain, you still have only one thought at a time. Make it a positive thought."

http://www.didyouknow.org/brains.htm

 

[zekrahminator]

I ain't worried until I see this headline while I'm searching for newsposts:

"Skynet has become self-aware" .

 

[Solaris17]

I ain't worried until I see this headline while I'm searching for newsposts:

"Skynet has become self-aware" .

dude i would flip id like unplug my puter and leave the house smoke a few butts and like hide in the woods after robbing a store.

 

[Wile E]

dude i would flip id like unplug my puter and leave the house smoke a few butts and like hide in the woods after robbing a store.

After robbing a store made me lol

 

[Benpi]

Brains are SOO much more complicated than a computer imo. There are also huge differences between the two. For example, you can teach a 4 year old kid what the letter "E" looks like. You can then draw it in different styles on a piece of paper and they will still recognize it as an E. This is nearly an impossible feat for a computer.

imo

Dude. You don't need the imo. The Fastest super-computer in the world, is only half as powerful as a Mouse Brain. A mouse brain is probably the size of a Rice Krispy - or less. I really don't think the forum police will flame you for stating that 'a Brain is more complicated than a computer' as fact.

 

[15th Warlock]

Using 4,096 processors, each with 256MB of memory, the team managed to create a virtual mouse brain that had 8,000 neutrons with up to 6,300 synapses each. Real mouse brains will have about 16,000 neutrons which can have up to 8,000 synapses (connections with other nerve fibres) each.

Source: BBC News

Jimmy, dunno if anyone has pointed this out, but "neutrons" are electrically neutral particles found in the nucleus of all atoms, while brain cells are called "neurons"... Excellent story by the way

 

[mandelore]

Brains are SOO much more complicated than a computer imo. There are also huge differences between the two. For example, you can teach a 4 year old kid what the letter "E" looks like. You can then draw it in different styles on a piece of paper and they will still recognize it as an E. This is nearly an impossible feat for a computer.

your comparing the most complicated thing in the known universe (the human mind(or other highly developed mind) ) against a simulated patch of neurons, its just not comparable, but its a step in the right direction methinks

 

[Benpi]

Jimmy, dunno if anyone has pointed this out, but "neutrons" are electrically neutral particles found in the nucleus of all atoms, while brain cells are called "neurons"... Excellent story by the way

!!! I was wondering how they made a PC out of neutrons. Neurons makes a lot more sense to me.

 

[Easy Rhino]

half a mouse brain??? so thats about equal to your standard politician i guess.

 

[SpookyWillow]

1/2 a brain of which mouse tho lol