ULTIMATE COMPUTING - Quantum Consciousness Studies

22 Toward Ultimate Computing
gates, wires and switches may be worth trying to build, although redundancy and
parallelism may be necessary. 6) Do biochemical systems inspire technological
imitations for the purpose of computer design Many biological systems (DNA,
antibodies, receptors, enzymes) were reviewed and a major conclusion was that,
None of these materials is as rich in chemoelectric physical
phenomena as are (cytoskeletal) microscopic biological objects.
Microtubules offer the most possibilities for inspiring chemically
based computation! (Yates, 1984)
1.5 Dynamic Pattern Representation
Processing of patterns or symbols is conducive to optimal computing.
Patterns can be dynamically represented by a number of descriptive mechanisms
which would be useful in both AI and biological systems. These include reactiondiffusion
systems, holograms, macrons, and cellular automata.
1.5.1 Reaction Diffusion Systems
Reaction diffusion systems are evolving patterns which result from various
types of reactions and product diffusion within a dynamic medium. Biological
reaction diffusion systems within the submembrane cytoplasm have been
suggested by Conrad and Liberman (1982) as a mechanism of biological
information representation. In their model, reaction diffusion patterns of the
energy rich nucleotide, cyclic AMP, which are regulated by the membrane are the
texture of cytoplasmic information. Propagation and interaction of chemical,
nonlinear waves lead to pattern formation in a number of chemical and biological
media (Winfree and Strogatz, 1984). In the well studied “Belousov-Zhabotinsky
reaction,” spiral chemical reaction waves propagate at uniform speed and interact
with other waves to produce complex patterns. Waves radiate from spiral centers
at a rate of a few millimeters per minute as the spirals turn in about one minute.
Several chemical reactions with suitable diffusion rates and visible color changes
of reaction products show these characteristic patterns, as do cultured amoeba
cells responding to pulses of cyclic AMP (Figure 1.9). Similar phenomena have
also been reported in retinal and cortical nerve nets and in heart muscle. Smaller
scale reaction diffusion patterns are accordingly faster.