A computer has been created that works like a thinking human brain, now calculations are faster and require less energy. The breakthrough was made by scientists from Northwestern University, Boston College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), it is noteworthy that similar developments are underway at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Electronics at the University of Hong Kong. According to Nature, the work made it possible to give artificial intelligence (AI) behavioral skills beyond the framework of template calculations and even simulate the principles of the human brain. The researchers were able to give computers an understanding of the logic of the functioning of higher human nervous activity, including thinking and memory. The result of the work was a microelectronic platform (memristor) that copies the action of neurons and synapses. The advantage of the technology is in computing directly in PC memory, when there is no need to transfer ready–made data between processors and memory blocks. In the future, this will allow you to get rid of energy-consuming AI and switch to large-scale computing, even based on smartphones. The devices will also find applications in medicine (well-being monitoring and virus genome sequencing). Earlier it became known that light allows you to transfer data 100 times faster than Wi-Fi networks.
From the book Tikhomirov A.E., The origin of words and signs. The Science of Superstition, Ridero, Yekaterinburg, 2017, pp. 150-151): "Billions of neurons in the human brain are constantly developing trillions and trillions of new connections, of course, this happens strictly individually. In the process of human life, all information entering the brain is stored there (as on a computer hard drive, the similarity of the brain to a computer hard drive lies in the fact that information is transmitted in the brain through the nervous system, which is a network of several trillion nerve cells (neurons) as in a computer, through electronic switches that have only two values – bits (double numbers) and performs only one action – addition, which is also observed in the finds of artifacts of an ancient man who could only add, as well as small children who put together a quantity of something or someone from matches, computer BIOS – unconditional (innate) reflexes, and later installed programs on a computer hard drive – acquired reflexes or a certain "soul" of a person), but in most cases it turns out to be unclaimed. With an organic change in the brain (injury, infection, etc.), completely different neural connections that were not previously characteristic are established and various phenomenal abilities (drawing, memorization, versification, etc.) may appear, but individually, since each person has their own neural connections. There are models for creating computer programs that modulate the mind of any person with any level of accuracy, and it will be possible to create a computer copy of any person who has ever lived in the world."
Scientific assessments of forecasts and predictions
Experts have compiled a list of unexpected events that will surprise the inhabitants of planet Earth in 2024. The forecast is published in the American magazine Politico. The top 3 included the US presidential election, the digital apocalypse and the discovery of an alien mind. Jan Bremmer, head of the Eurasia Group, a political risk consulting company, doubts that the election of the American leader in November 2024 will be held calmly. The struggle for the presidency will be fierce, as evidenced by the intensity of passions now. Joe Biden and Donald Trump are not going to give in to each other. The editor-in-chief of the Bulwark newspaper, Charlie Sykes, warned that humanity may face a virus that will affect the operation of computers. "The satellites will stop working. The global banking system will suffer," the expert described the apocalyptic scenario. The list of the worst events of 2024 also included the US war with China and the coup in Russia. Experts have no doubt that Lai Ching-te, who won the presidential election, will declare Taiwan's independence. Beijing will launch a military operation, and the United States will use force to defend the island. The writer Nassim Taleb used the term "black swan" for difficult to predict and rare events with significant consequences.
From the book by Tikhomirov A.E., The origin of words and signs. The science of superstition, "Ridero", Yekaterinburg, 2017, p. 114: "Predictions – predictions have been made in all ages, some of them were actually realized if a certain condition was met – if, then it will be so, if otherwise, then it will be like this. The English writer Jonathan Swift, talking about Gulliver's travels, describes his visit to the flying island of Laputa, where he describes the famous academy, which is interesting, all these Laputyan experiments were subsequently reproduced by scientists from real academies, and they all gave a brilliant result. These are the condensation of light energy in cucumbers – photosynthesis, and a stochastic computing machine – in the form of modern computers, and finally, the bloating of a dog – the study of mechanoreceptors of internal organs. The use of intraatomic power for economic purposes is discussed on the pages of the novel "The Liberated World" by the heroes of the English science fiction writer G. Wells. The writers foresaw other, non-peaceful uses of atomic energy. One of the first (if not the first) of these terrible prophecies at the beginning of the century was expressed again by G. Wells. And the famous Russian poet A. Bely does not just discover familiarity with the cutting edge of science of his time, with the ideas that scientists are struggling with. He thinks in terms sprouted from the soil of atomic decay. The hero of one of I. Ehrenburg's novels, an American scientist, tells about the use by his compatriots against the Japanese of some kind of weapon to destroy large masses of people. It's not just about the foresight itself, but also, as we can see, in the details. Later, after this actually happened, the writer explained: "They ask me why in 1921, when Japan was an ally of America, I wrote that the Americans would try a new deadly weapon on the Japanese." And then he admits: "I do not know what… answer" (perception of information at the subconscious level, since the brain actually "catches" information with the help of its neural network)." The philosopher A.K. Sukhotin writes in the book "Rhythms and Algorithms" (pp.163-169): "Let's say that large-scale ideas entered the attention zone, which, as they say, hung in the air and which became an integral element of public thought. At the same time, artistic premonitions sometimes concerned more distant events, and often very specific ones. So, if you compile a set of literary omens in the field of technical discoveries and inventions, it will turn out to be impressive. We will announce only some of his positions. For example, by means of transportation. It turns out that the imagination of writers long before the real embodiment "mastered" all the most important modes of transport, land, water and air, even encroaching on space. By the power of artistic insights, science