>
> forrestb@ix.netcom.com (Forrest Bishop) writes:
>
> > I've played around with a animated planner,
>
> This sounds like great fun! What program was it?
See other thread.
> > >What I would like is a molecular film that acts as a cellular
> > >automaton. Maybe we could use the microtubule units?
> >
> > What for?
>
> Fun. Aesthethics. I like CAs :-)
So do I, but what I have in mind are the aesthetics of providing useful
products and making lotsa dough in the process.
> > How small a unit cell? How many (how few, actually)?
> > Is there a market for this that cannot be filled with projected
> > Si 'von Neumann' chips?
>
> It would likely be significantly faster and denser than the chips. And
> if we could tune the transition rules, then we could get lattice gas
> dynamics with a wonderful resolution,
It would still be a 2D gas model, with a limited market. The size and
number
of cells to produce a useful device is the question. Would the amount of
area
needed to implement a gate, for instance, be less than the area of a
dedicated
hardware gate. Could it run as fast? Bear in mind this kind of gate is
approaching the molecular scale- a couple papers on this at the 5th
Foresight
conference.
> or make universal computations
> for real. Or just run the greatest Game of Life ever.
>
> > What good is a microtubule? It has to be in water, no?
>
> I think so. Normally the units form a cylinder, with a helical tiling
> of the subunits (and some interesting stability properties; they are
> dynamical structures, constantly being formed and dissolved at the
> ends). The fun thing is that it is possible that the units flip
> around, acting as a cellular automaton which can have all sorts of
> dynamics.
Really? Maybe there is some biochemical analog of the rule table?
> > Any other ideas for thin-film, nearly nanotech products?
>
> What about using reaction-diffusion dynamics to create complex local
> strucures? That might be useful to maximizing catalytic efficiency,
> adapting to changes in the environment or changing color.
Hmmm, maybe a chemically-powered display for laptops, clothes, etc.
This might be much more efficient than electrically powered (battery).
It would need transport provisions for reactants and products- the
distributor might resemble a circulatory system, and might have some
self-repairing capabilies.
Maybe refresh rates could be governed by reaction-diffusion chemical
clocks (a temperature-dependence problem here).
Biolumenescent reactions would be neat for lighting or backlighting,
they are quite efficient, I understand.
Forrest
Forrest Bishop
Chairman,
Institute of Atomic-Scale Engineering
http://www.speakeasy.org/~forrestb