From: J. R. Molloy (jr@shasta.com)
Date: Sun Sep 16 2001 - 09:07:07 MDT
Vital role
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1542000/1542262.stm
"The usual metaphor for artificial neural networks is electrical circuits and
nodes connected by wires," said Dr Husbands. "The detail is abstracted away in
favour of signals and wires, but that is not the whole story."
Neurophysiologists have recently discovered that Nitric Oxide (NO) plays a
vital role in many brain functions, including learning and memory.
In the brain, the gas diffuses through the neural tissue and changes the way
that nerves react to signals from other nerves.
"NO changes the properties of other parts of the brain's neural network at all
kinds of different time scales," he said. "A lot of the subtle processes you
get in biological systems are not there by accident."
Dr Husbands and his colleagues have found a way to mimic the workings of NO in
the neural networks they are evolving to create control programs for robots.
Often, it takes many thousands of generations to create control programs that
do a good job of completing the task given to a robot. But by mimicking NO, Dr
Husbands' team has produced control programs that are much faster and far
smaller than usual.
The control programs have been used to create control systems for a bipedal
robot and a visual recognition system for a robot that works even when the
machine is distracted by flashing lights and shadows.
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Useless hypotheses, etc.:
consciousness, phlogiston, philosophy, vitalism, mind, free will, qualia,
analog computing, cultural relativism, GAC, Cyc, Eliza, cryonics, individual
uniqueness, ego, human values
We won't move into a better future until we debunk religiosity, the most
regressive force now operating in society.
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