World-record Supercomputer Mimics Human Sight Brain Mechanisms
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080612140031.htm
ScienceDaily (Jun. 13, 2008) — Less than a week after Los Alamos National Laboratory's Roadrunner
supercomputer began operating at world-record petaflop-per-second data-processing speeds, Los
Alamos researchers are already using the computer to mimic extremely complex neurological processes.
The prefix "peta" stands for a million billion, also known as a quadrillion. For the Roadrunner
supercomputer, operating at petaflop/s performance means the machine can process a million billion
calculations each second. In other words, Roadrunner gives scientists the ability to quickly render
mountainous problems into mere molehills, or model systems that previously were unthinkably complex.
...
PetaVision models the human visual system--mimicking more than 1 billion visual neurons and trillions of
synapses. Neurons are nerve cells that process information in the brain. Neurons communicate with
each other using synaptic connections, analogous to what transistors are in modern computer chips.
Synapses store memories and play a vital role in learning.
Synapses set the scale for computations performed by the brain while undertaking such tasks as
locomotion, hearing or vision. Because there are about a quadrillion synapses in the human brain,
human cognition is a petaflop/s computational problem.
...
Based on the results of PetaVision's inaugural trials, Los Alamos researchers believe they can study in
real time the entire human visual cortex--arguably a human being's most important sensory apparatus.
Next
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080612140031.htm
ScienceDaily (Jun. 13, 2008) — Less than a week after Los Alamos National Laboratory's Roadrunner
supercomputer began operating at world-record petaflop-per-second data-processing speeds, Los
Alamos researchers are already using the computer to mimic extremely complex neurological processes.
The prefix "peta" stands for a million billion, also known as a quadrillion. For the Roadrunner
supercomputer, operating at petaflop/s performance means the machine can process a million billion
calculations each second. In other words, Roadrunner gives scientists the ability to quickly render
mountainous problems into mere molehills, or model systems that previously were unthinkably complex.
...
PetaVision models the human visual system--mimicking more than 1 billion visual neurons and trillions of
synapses. Neurons are nerve cells that process information in the brain. Neurons communicate with
each other using synaptic connections, analogous to what transistors are in modern computer chips.
Synapses store memories and play a vital role in learning.
Synapses set the scale for computations performed by the brain while undertaking such tasks as
locomotion, hearing or vision. Because there are about a quadrillion synapses in the human brain,
human cognition is a petaflop/s computational problem.
...
Based on the results of PetaVision's inaugural trials, Los Alamos researchers believe they can study in
real time the entire human visual cortex--arguably a human being's most important sensory apparatus.
Next
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