The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology (130 page)

Nedervelde, Philippe Van, 598
n

Nehaniv, Chrystopher L., 548
n

Nelson, David, 502
n

neocortical neurons, 171

Neumann, John von, 10, 227–228, 401, 498
n
–499
n
, 558
n

        kinematic constructor of, 29, 228

neural chips, 188, 195

neural clusters, 168, 197

neural diseases, 304

neural implants, 28, 201, 374, 377, 443, 483

        challenge in connection of, 195

        nanobots compared with, 317

        for Parkinson’s disease, 195, 255, 308, 384, 585
n

        for retinas, 185, 308, 585
n

neural nets, 89, 149, 173, 268–270, 288, 428, 442, 446, 481

        algorithmic description of, 269, 570
n
–574
n

        backpropagation and, 156

        biological, 269–270

        business use of, 283

        connectionism and, 155, 156

        defined, 539
n

        genetic algorithms combined with, 271, 278–279

        McCulloch-Pitts model of, 155, 170

        pattern recognition and, 151, 152, 156, 268–269, 271, 461

        Perceptron, 574
n

neural precursor cells, 177

neural processing, criticism from complexity of, 428–429, 442–450

neurogenesis, 177

neuromorphic electronic systems, 533
n

neuromorphic models, 178–194, 197, 308, 316, 440

        of auditory regions, 123–124, 147–148, 183–184,
185
, 529
n
, 545
n
–547
n

        of cerebellum, 178–183,
180, 182

        of hippocampus, 188

        of neural regions, 452

        of olivocerebellar region, 189

        of visual system, 185–188,
187

neuromorphic simulations, 122, 124–125, 438, 440, 527
n
, 530
n

neurons, nervous system, 46, 85, 145, 202, 223, 468–469, 474, 475, 600
n

        in auditory cortex, 124

        biological limitations to, 27, 127, 144

        blood flow and, 161

        brain modeling and, 4, 172–173, 428, 443, 452, 455

        brain reverse engineering and, 163–167, 440, 444, 530
n

        building of, 111

        change of, 325, 383

        chaotic computing and, 173

        chip compared with, 530
n
, 538
n

        complexity of, 143–144, 153, 155, 197, 455

        damage to, 173, 308

        design of, 153

        early models of, 154–157, 169

        electronic, 173

        excitatory vs. inhibitory, 157

        feedforward sequence of, 154, 170

        firing of, 147, 150, 155, 162, 170, 173, 176, 269, 313, 446

        formation of, 177

        Hebb’s learning theories for, 156–157, 170–171

        of human vs. nonhuman primates, 506
n

        information in,
15
, 16, 127

        information processing times and, 8–9, 26, 27, 71, 503
n
, 504
n
, 505
n

        loss of, 152, 293

        measurement of electrical output of, 154

        membrane of, 442–443

        motor, 166, 180–181

        nanobots’ interaction with, 28, 165–166, 300, 319, 377

        personality and, 200

        plasticity of, 171–172

        quantum computing and, 429, 450–452

        response time of, 172

        in retina, 123

        as self-organizing, 151, 538
n

        simplicity of, 143–144

        simulation of, 268–269, 455

        stabilization time of, 150

        
subcellular components vs., 169–170

        virtual reality from within, 28, 29, 165, 300, 377

        
see also
axons; dendrites; soma; spines; synapses

neuron transistors, 308, 313

neuroscience, 154, 168–169

neurotransmitters, 153, 163, 199, 257, 378, 430

        in analog domain, 147, 149

        defined, 145

        information and, 47

        memory and, 127, 137, 329, 523
n

        patterns of, 260, 317, 337, 440, 445, 463

        in synapses, 145, 147, 153, 170

neutrons, 14

newborns, 152, 193

Newburger, Eric C., 511
n

Newell, Allen, 264, 273, 569
n

New Kind of Science, A
(Wolfram), 85, 90, 519
n

Newton, Isaac, 473, 485

Newtonian physics, 520
n

Ng, Y. Jack, 342, 590
n

Nicolaescu, Roxana, 567
n

Nicolelis, Miguel, 194–195

Niehaus, Ed, 598
n

Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, 373, 374, 475

911 emergency systems, 255, 413

Ningaraj, Nagendra S., 541
n

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT), 113

Nishizawa, Matsuhiko, 565
n

Nissen, S. E., 554
n

nitric oxide, transmembrane diffusion of, 170, 446

nitrogen, 551
n

Nixon, Richard M., 391

NMDA receptors, 383

Nobel, Alfred, 404

noise, 38

Nomad for Military Applications, 586
n

nonbiological experience, transformation to, 324–326

nonbiological intelligence:

        change in meaning of, 311

        concern about, 30

        consciousness of, 376–380, 385, 475

        design and architecture freedom of, 26, 27, 31

        emotional, 28–29, 145, 377–379, 385

        energy and matter saturated by,
15
, 21, 29, 45, 364, 375, 389, 511
n

        exponential growth of, 257, 300, 316, 377, 407

        feedback cycle of, 28

        as human, 3, 317, 409

        in human brain, 28, 201–202, 377, 472

        knowledge sharing and, 20, 26, 145, 202–203, 260

        merger of biological intelligence with, 4, 9, 24, 25, 47, 123, 128, 197, 296, 300, 316–317, 337, 340, 372, 375–376, 377, 424

        prevalence of, 226, 309, 335, 350, 352, 375, 377

        silicon vs. carbon, 375

        speed of, 26, 27

        spiritual experiences of, 377

        strengths of, 26, 27

        Turing test and,
see
Turing test

        
see also
artificial intelligence

nonlinearity:

        in neuronal information processing, 124, 137, 138, 148, 150–151, 155, 197, 428, 442, 452, 503
n
, 527
n

        as requirement for self-organizing system, 155

nonsexual reproduction, 46

“nor” gate, 94, 523
n

notebook computers, 64–65, 247

Notebooks
(Butler), 96

“Note for Physicists” (Wolfram), 519
n
, 521
n

Novamente architecture, 279

Nowatzyk, Andreas, 161

nuclear energy,
20

        natural, 139–140, 503
n

        nuclear reactors, 243, 252

        power plants, 255, 420

nuclear war, 401

nuclear-waste management, 252

nuclear weapons, 397–398, 401–402, 423

        atomic bomb, 392–393, 404, 408, 594
n

        proliferation of, 393, 401–402, 426

nucleic acids, 47, 423

nucleotides, 207

nucleus, 198, 208, 219

        cloning and, 221–222, 556
n

        cochlear, 184

        genes inserted into, 215, 220, 323

        nanotechnology in upgrading of, 232–236, 412

        posterior ventromedial (VMpo), 193, 314

nurture (experience), 225

nutrients, 301, 303, 304

nutritional supplements, 211, 303, 371

Nuttin, B., 585
n

obesity, 221, 302

objectivity, 378, 380, 385, 388, 467, 468

O’Brien, R. J., 542
n

observation, 47–48, 358

obsolescence stage, 52, 53

Och, Franz Josef, 288

O’Craven, K.M., 539
n

octopus, arms of, 181, 544
n

Odlyzko, Andrew M., 511
n
, 516
n

Oellette, Jennifer, 581
n

Oeppen, Jim, 597
n

Oertel, D., 545
n

Office of Naval Research, U.S., Autonomous Intelligent Network and Systems (AINS) program of, 333

Ó hAnluain, Daithí, 540
n

Ohio State University Health System, 283

Ohm’s Law, 118

oil, oil industry, 102, 243, 244, 252, 420

Oklahoma, University of, 119, 131, 134

Oklo nuclear reactor, 139–140, 503
n

oligodendrocytes, 177

oligonucleotides, 552
n

olive cells, 184

olivocerebellar region, artificial, 189

Omnidirectional Search System,
343
, 344

oncogenesis, 552
n

oncology, 581
n

O’Neal, D. Patrick, 564
n

“One Half a Manifesto” (Lanier), 380

ontology, criticism from, 430, 458–469

Open Courseware (OCW), 336

optical character recognition (OCR), 97

optical coherence imaging (OCI), 163

optical computers, 119–120

optical fibers, 53

optical imaging, 161

optical switching, 76

optic nerve, 154, 166, 170, 186–187, 188

optimism, 374

order, 38–41, 198, 389

        class 4 automata and, 88–91

        complexity compared with, 38–40, 90, 372

        defined, 90

        evolution and, 14, 15, 20, 36–45, 47, 509
n

        exponential growth of, 20, 45

        information as, 38–42

        nature of, 36–43

organ transplants, 418, 598
n

Osborne, Lawrence, 540
n

oscillator circuit, 271

ovarian cancer, 282

Overbye, Dennis, 503
n

overpopulation, 13

oxidants, 252

oxygen, 161, 163, 209, 305, 399

        in fuel cells, 230, 238, 247, 248

        respirocytes and, 305, 306

Oyabu, Noriaki, 561
n

Pacino, Al, 315

Page, David C., 510

Page, Michael, 563
n

Paine, R. W., 545
n

Pakistan, 336

Palmer, Brett, 587
n

Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), 240, 286

pancreas:

        artificial, 124, 243, 307, 530
n

        modeling of, 168

pancreas cells, 223, 557
n

        islet, 124, 168, 213, 223, 255, 557
n

Panov, A. G., 567
n

Papageorgiou, Constantine, 547
n