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When Bacteria Replace Silicon: The Coming Age of Living Computers

September 9, 2025

The most powerful computers of tomorrow may not hum inside climate-controlled data centers or be etched into silicon wafers. They may be alive. At Rice University in Texas, a team of scientists has secured nearly $2 million from the National Science Foundation to explore what could become one of the most disruptive computing revolutions in history: transforming bacteria into programmable digital processors.

The logic is simple but radical. Each bacterial cell acts as a tiny processor.

Science & Technology News

Oscillating Gel Acts Like Artificial Skin, Giving Robots Potential Ability to ‘Feel’

March 29, 2012

Is this the face of feeling?

Sooner than later, robots may have the ability to “feel.” In a paper published online March 26 in Advanced Functional Materials, a team of researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) demonstrated that a nonoscillating gel can be resuscitated in a fashion similar to a medical cardiopulmonary resuscitation…

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Analysis, Animals, Breakthrough Thinking, Education, Historical Perspectives, New Discoveries

Insects have ‘Personalities’ too, research on novelty-seeking honey bees indicates

March 8, 2012

Some honey bees, too, are more likely than others to seek adventure.

A new study in Science suggests that thrill-seeking is not limited to humans and other vertebrates. Some honey bees, too, are more likely than others to seek adventure. The brains of these novelty-seeking bees exhibit distinct patterns of gene activity in molecular pathways known to be associated with thrill-seeking in humans, researchers report…

Continue reading… “Insects have ‘Personalities’ too, research on novelty-seeking honey bees indicates”