The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology (128 page)

logic gates, 112, 121, 245, 530
n
, 538
n

        brain compared with, 446, 449–450

        nanotubes as, 113, 114

        reversible, 131–132, 244, 249, 434, 534
n

Lohn, Jason, 281, 580
n

Long, R. Q., 567
n

longevity, human, 320–330, 371

Long Now Foundation, 328, 588
n

Los Alamos National Lab, 139, 503
n

love, 189, 389, 476, 485

        boundaries and, 387

        falling in, 26, 142, 382

        remembering, 376

        spindle cells and, 193, 194

Lovett, R., 553
n

Lovley, Derek R., 248

Lowel, S., 176, 543
n

Lucas, J. R., 259, 376

Lucent Technologies, Bell Labs of, 157

Lucy (
Australopithecine
), 509
n

Ludd, Ned, 507
n

“Ludd, Ned,” 31–33, 225–226, 298, 319, 367, 426

Luddites, 338, 341, 415, 507
n

Ludwig Maximilians University, 235

lungs, 209, 216, 306

Lurie, Karen, 565
n

Lyding, J. W., 562
n
, 563
n

Lyman, Peter, 588
n

lymph nodes, 217

macaque monkeys, 186, 193

McCabe, Thomas, 437, 600
n

McCallum, John C., 515
n

McCool, Joe, 582
n

McCormick, Bruce H., 540
n

McCrea, Keith, 567
n

McCulloch, W. S., 155, 539
n
, 539
n

McCulloch-Pitts neural-net model, 155, 170

Macer, Darryl, 267

McGill University, 242

McKibben, Bill, 391, 395, 410, 594
n
, 597
n

McLuhan, Marshall, 14

MacRobert, Alan M., 590
n

macrophages, robotic (microbivores), 254, 306

mad-cow disease, 116, 224, 543
n
, 549
n

magic, 4–5, 388

magnetic field, 118, 119, 160, 161, 281

magnetic (disk-drive) memory, 76, 76

magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), 308

magnetic tape, 325

magnetoencephalography (MEG), 150, 158, 160, 186

magnetoresistance, 119

Magueijo, Joao, 592
n

Maher, M. P., 548
n

Mahowald, M. A., 547
n

Makeig, Scott, 172, 542
n

Malthus, Thomas, 427–428, 433–435

mammals, 17, 18, 20

        brain matter added to, 16

        embryos of, 556
n

        nervous system evolution in, 506
n

        spindle cells in, 192

        
see also specific mammals

Man and Superman
(Shaw), 96

Mandelbrot set, 447–449,
450

MANIAC (Mathematical Analyzer, Numerical Integrator, and Computer), 499
n

Mann, David J., 562
n

mannitol, 165

Mano, N., 565
n
, 585
n

manufacturing, 250–251

        law of accelerating returns and, 243

        molecular,
see
molecular manufacturing

        productivity growth and, 100–101,
101

        robotics and, 276, 285–286

        of silicon chips, 42, 119, 122

        transistor,
60

Mao, F., 565
n

Marcikic, I., 591
n

Margolus, Norman, 518
n

Markov, Andrei Andreyevich, 268

Markov chains, 268

Markov models, 89, 151, 152, 461, 481, 570
n

        defined, 539
n

        speech recognition and, 153, 268, 278

Mars, 280

Marshall, E., 552
n

Marshall, Matt, 566
n

Martin, Mike, 566
n

Martinville, Léon Scott de, 52

Marx, Karl, 475

“Mass Use of Inventions” chart,
50
, 512
n

Masuoka, Fujio, 113

materialism, 388, 394, 431, 473–476

mathematics, 453–454

        chaotic systems and, 151, 198, 449, 450

        of complexity theory, 145, 151

        existential risks and, 404

        proofs in, 264, 283

        singularity in, 22–23,
23
, 485, 486

Mathematica (program), 89

Matick, Richard E., 515
n

Matrioshka brain, 350–351

Matrix Semiconductor, 113

matter, 32, 33

        black hole’s effect on, 7, 363

        computational limits and, 72, 113, 128, 131, 133–134, 136–138, 300, 349–351, 427–428, 432, 434–435

        as digital vs. analog, 14

        information’s relationship with, 86, 87, 522
n

        nonbiological intelligence’s saturating of,
15
, 21, 29, 45, 364, 375, 389, 511
n

        observed density of, 365, 592
n

        patterns of, 325, 383, 385, 431, 474

        pico- and femtotechnology and, 138–139, 351

Matthews, Stephen, 539
n

maturity stage, 52

Mauk, Michael D., 182–183, 545
n

Max Planck Institute, 188, 195, 308, 313

Maya
(illusion), 388

Maysinger, D., 564
n

Mazur, Eric, 162–163

MCM-41, 252

Mead, Carver, 183, 440, 533
n

        analog-emulation-of-brain work of, 18, 126, 151, 189, 442, 533
n
, 538
n
, 545
n
, 547
n

meaning:

        as emergent pattern, 463–464

        parity and, 190

meat, 224

mechanical devices, decrease in size of, 82,
82
, 407

media:

        technology controversy and, 393

        war coverage by, 330, 331

medical diagnostic systems, 266–267

medical informatics, 265

medicine, 126, 214

        AI applications in, 8, 276, 281–282

        knowledge and, 282, 283, 396

        nanotechnology and, 238, 242–243, 251, 253–255, 259, 300, 303–305, 377, 407

        progress in, 411

        regulation of, 373, 412–413, 416–417, 423

        warfare compared with, 331

        
see also
drugs;
specific biotechnology practices

Medina, Javier F., 182–183, 545
n

Medtronic MiniMed, 307, 530
n
, 585
n
, 586
n

MEG,
see
magnetoencephalography

Melton, H. Keith, 580
n

Meltzer, Martin I., 596
n

Melymuka, Kathleen, 580
n

memory, 48, 86, 316

        brain and, 48, 126, 137, 138, 176, 523
n

        computational capacity compared with, 126–127

        efficiency of, 136–138

        Hebbian reverberatory, 156–157, 170–171

        human longevity and, 329

        learning vs., 541
n

        long-term, 157, 172, 175–176, 188, 543
n
, 544
n

        repression of, 176–177, 544
n

        short-term (working), 170, 175

        in soma, 170–171

        storage device for, 176

        synapses and, 169, 170–171, 175–176, 200, 541
n
, 543
n
, 544
n

        of threatening stimuli, 541
n

        uploading of, 199

memory, computer, 3, 26, 135, 261, 481–482

        cost of, 126

        law of accelerating returns and, 57–58,
57
,
58
,
59
, 64–65, 75–76,
75
,
76
, 96, 102, 436

        
long-term, 158–159

        magnetic (disk-drive), 76,
76

        molecular computing and, 115

        nanotubes in storage of, 113–115

        random access,
see
RAM

        spintronics and, 118–119

        storage issues and, 327–329, 588
n

memory, flash, 54, 113, 115, 116

memory banks, 312

memory cells, based on atoms, 121

MEMS (Micro Electronic Mechanical Systems) technology, 133, 238, 247, 306, 421

Mencken, H. L., 369

meritocracy, 472

Merkle, Ralph, 229, 230, 240, 400, 412, 559
n
, 560
n
, 561
n
, 562
n
, 563
n
, 595
n
, 598
n

Merzenich, Michael, 174, 542
n

mesh (peer-to-peer, many-to-many, and “multihop”) networks, 125, 280, 533
n

Mesopotamia, 536
n

“MEST” (matter, energy, space, and time) compression, 24

meteors, 398

methane (CH
₄
), 400

methanol, 247

Meyerson, Bernard, 519
n
, 529
n

mice:

        beta-catenin overproduction in, 505
n

        brain-scanning experiments in, 161–162, 171–172

        neurogenesis in, 177

        robustly rejuvenated, 213

        weight gain prevented in, 11–12, 303

microarrays (gene chips), 214–215, 552
n

microbivores (robotic macrophages), 254, 306

microbots, 333

MicroCHIPS, 242–243

microfluidic devices, 242

microprocessors, 116, 119

        clock speed of,
61
, 63, 66

        cost per transistor cycle of, 62,
62
, 66

        performance in MIPS of, 64–65,
64
, 66

        transistors per, 63,
63
, 498
n

microscopes, 47–48, 163

        atomic-force (AFM), 138, 237, 536
n

        scanning probe (SPM), 237, 240

Microsoft, 284, 286–287

Microsoft Word, 147, 538
n

microtubules, 383, 429, 449–452

Microvision, 586
n

microwaves, 165, 247, 250, 343

midbrain, 193

Miles, J. B., 515
n

military:

        AI used by, 259, 279–280, 281, 284

        development times reduced in, 334

        nanobots used by, 300, 333, 400

        robots, 189, 280, 285, 331–332, 333

        virtual reality used by, 312, 335, 586
n

        warfare and, 330–335

        
see also
weapons

military manuals, 594
n

Milky Way galaxy, 342–348, 590
n

Miller, Arthur, 376, 593
n

Miller, E. K., 542
n

Miller, Mark, 598
n

Miller, Max, 21

Miller, Steve, 175

MIMD (multiple instruction multiple data) architectures, 120

mind, 143, 444

        Church-Turing thesis and, 454

        expansion of, 316–317