Discover Magazine | Memory, Emotions, & Decisions

Brain-Like Chip May Solve Computers' Big Problem: Energy

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:10:00 -0600

Kwabena Boahen is working to create a computer that will fulfill his boyhood vision—a new kind of computer, based not on the regimented order of traditional silicon chips but on the organized chaos of the human brain. Designing this machine will mean rejecting everything that we have learned over the past 50 years about building computers. But it might be exactly what we need to keep the information revolution going for another 50. The human brain runs on only about 20 watts of power, equal to the dim light behind the pickle jar in your refrigerator. By contrast, the computer on your desk consumes a million times as much energy per calculation. If you wanted to build a robot with a processor as smart as the human brain, it would require 10 to 20 megawatts of electricity. “Ten megawatts is a small hydroelectric plant,” Boahen says dismissively. “We should work on miniaturizing hydroelectric plants so we can put them on the backs of robots.” You would encounter similar problems if you tried to build a medical implant to replace just 1 percent of the neurons in the brain, for use in stroke patients. That implant would consume as much electricity as 200 households and dissipate as much heat as the engine in a Porsche Boxster. “Energy efficiency isn’t just a matter of elegance. It fundamentally limits what we can do with computers,” Boahen says. Despite the amazing progress in electronics technology—today’s transistors are 1/100,000 the size that they were a half century ago, and computer chips are 10 million times faster—we still have not made meaningful progress on the energy front. And if we do not, we can forget about truly intelligent humanlike machines and all the other dreams of radically more powerful computers.

I Didn't Sin—It Was My Brain

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 11:40:00 -0500

Brain researchers have found the sources of many of our darkest thoughts, from envy to wrath.

Is Alzheimer's Like a Strange Form of Brain Cancer?

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:50:00 -0500

Biochemist Peter Davies suspects the vast majority of research is on the wrong track: The disease is caused by improper cell division, not plaques or tangles.

The Brain: Where Does Sex Live in the Brain? From Top to Bottom.

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 06:30:00 -0500

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Image: iStockphoto

On April 11, 1944, a doctor named T. C. Erickson addressed the Chicago Neurological Society about a patient he called Mrs. C. W. At age 43 she had started to wake up many nights feeling as if she were having sex—or as she put it to Erickson, feeling “hot all over.” As the years passed her hot spells struck more often, even in the daytime, and began to be followed by seizures that left her unable to speak. Erickson examined Mrs. C. W. when she was 54 and diagnosed her with nymphomania. He prescribed a treatment that was shockingly common at the time: He blasted her ovaries with X-rays.

Despite the X-rays, Mrs. C. W.’s seizures became worse, leaving her motionless and feeling as if an egg yolk were running down her throat. Erickson began to suspect that her sexual feelings were emanating not from her ovaries but from her head. Doctors opened up her skull and discovered a slow-growing tumor pressing against her brain. After the tumor was removed and Mrs. C. W. recovered, the seizures faded. “When asked if she still had any ‘passionate spells,’” Erickson recounted, “she said, ‘No, I haven’t had any; they were terrible things.’”

The Brain: The Dark Matter of the Human Brain

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 10:40:00 -0500

Meet the forgotten 90 percent of your brain: glial cells, which outnumber your neurons ten to one. And no one really knows what they do.

How Much of Your Memory Is True?

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 08:30:00 -0500

Is memory permanent and fixed? Not so much, according to new research. In fact, our brains are constantly re-writing the stories of what happened—and can even erase them.

What Do Urban Sounds Do to Your Brain?

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:10:00 -0500

A sonic tour of New York, from the agonizing screech of the Union Square subway station to one of the quietest rooms in the city: Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center

Why Ghost Hunters Is the Best Science Show on TV

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 11:05:00 -0500

No matter how silly and misguided, Ghost Hunters captures an element of science that Numb3rs, House, and even Mythbusters miss.

Neuroscience Finds Wisdom Centers in the Brain

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 12:05:00 -0500

This quintessential human characteristic depends both on powerful logic and deep emotion.

The Brain: Stop Paying Attention: Zoning Out Is a Crucial Mental State

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:15:00 -0500

Researchers say a wandering mind may be important to setting goals, making discoveries, and living a balanced life.

How to See Inside a Brain in Motion

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 11:30:00 -0500

A new mobile EEG system now lets researchers probe the brain function while people move around naturally.

The Brain: Can a Single Neuron Tell Halle Berry From Grandma Esther?

Fri, 15 May 2009 10:45:00 -0500

A new theory says the brain stores complex pieces of information in "sparse-coding networks."

Why Does the Vaccine/Autism Controversy Live On?

Wed, 06 May 2009 19:00:00 -0500

Research has soundly disproved the alleged connection, yet fears about vaccines continue to be a major risk to public health.

The Biocentric Universe Theory: Life Creates Time, Space, and the Cosmos Itself

Fri, 01 May 2009 20:50:00 -0500

Stem-cell guru Robert Lanza presents a radical new view of the universe and everything in it.

The Pentagon’s Beetle Borgs

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 08:05:00 -0500

With the mind of a machine and the nimble body of an insect, this bug-bot may be the perfect scout: inexpensive, expendable, and capable of surreptitious reconnaissance.

Looking at Stress—and God—in the Human Brain

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 10:40:00 -0500

DISCOVER reporter David Ewing Duncan uses fMRI to try to track his thoughts on some big questions.

Tapping the Brain’s Defenses to Fight Alzheimer’s

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 11:30:00 -0500

A natural brain protein and insulin, of all things, may lead to effective treatments.

The Brain: The Big Similarities & Quirky Differences Between Our Left and Right Brains

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 08:00:00 -0500

A broken symmetry from our evolutionary heritage is part of what makes us human.

Are Smart Drugs the Answer to Bad Moods—and a Bad Economy?

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 08:05:00 -0500

Tomorrow's brain-hacking neuropharmaceuticals will leave today's bunch in the dust. “Think of millions of workers in India or China cognitively enhanced with neuropharmaceuticals that boost productivity. Will the United States be able to place these drugs off-limits and compete?”

Vital Signs: A Gland Failure

Sun, 29 Mar 2009 20:00:00 -0500

When adrenal functions go out of whack, the mind and body respond in startling ways.

Music, Melody, and the Strange Pull They Exert Over Our Minds

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 10:15:00 -0500

Cognitive scientist Matthew Schulkind knows "earworms" inside and out—especially those spawned by the Wiggles.

Which Brain Games Will Help Your Brain the Most?

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 07:40:00 -0500

Recent studies have shown that mental training can actually increase your brain power in certain ways, and people are spending lots of time—and money—on such training. Here DISCOVER rates and reviews six brain game Web sites.

The New Theory About Why Animals Sleep: to Maintain the Immune System

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 20:40:00 -0500

New study shows that mammals that sleep more have more immune cells and fewer parasites.

The Pugnacious Paper That Aims to Turn Neuroscience on Its Head

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 07:20:00 -0500

fMRI has revolutionized our understanding of the brain. But some researchers say it's actually a big misunderstanding.

The Brain: Could a Dose of Ether Contain the Secret to Consciousness?

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 08:40:00 -0500

Researchers may soon be able to measure consciousness as well as we can measure a person's temperature.