{"id":84712,"date":"2022-10-02T14:03:57","date_gmt":"2022-10-02T14:03:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/biology-inspires-a-new-kind-of-water-based-circuit-that-could-transform-computing-sciencealert\/"},"modified":"2022-10-02T14:03:57","modified_gmt":"2022-10-02T14:03:57","slug":"biology-inspires-a-new-kind-of-water-based-circuit-that-could-transform-computing-sciencealert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/biology-inspires-a-new-kind-of-water-based-circuit-that-could-transform-computing-sciencealert\/","title":{"rendered":"Biology Inspires a New Kind of Water-Based Circuit That Could Transform Computing : ScienceAlert"},"content":{"rendered":"
The future of neural network computing could be a little soggier than we were expecting.<\/p>\n
A team of physicists has successfully developed an ionic circuit \u2013 a processor based on the movements of charged atoms and molecules in an aqueous solution, rather than electrons in a solid semiconductor.<\/p>\n
Since this is closer to the way the brain transports information, they say, their device could be the next step forward in brain-like computing.<\/p>\n
“Ionic circuits in aqueous solutions seek to use ions as charge carriers for signal processing,” write the team led by physicist Woo-Bin Jung of the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) in a new paper.<\/p>\n
“Here, we report an aqueous ionic circuit\u2026 This demonstration of the functional ionic circuit capable of analog computing is a step toward more sophisticated aqueous ionics.”<\/p>\n
A major part of signal transmission in the brain is the movement of molecules called ions through a liquid medium. Although the incredible processing power of the brain is extremely challenging to replicate, scientists have thought that a similar system might be employed for computing: pushing ions through an aqueous solution.<\/p>\n
This would be slower than conventional, silicon-based computing, but it might have some interesting advantages.<\/p>\n
For example, ions can be created from a wide range of molecules, each with different properties that could be exploited in different ways.<\/p>\n
But first, scientists need to show that it can work.<\/p>\n
This is what Jung and his colleagues have been working on. The first step was designing a functional ionic transistor, a device that switches or boosts a signal. Their most recent advance involved combining hundreds of those transistors to work together as an ionic circuit.<\/p>\n
The transistor consists of a “bullseye” arrangement of electrodes, with a small disk-shaped electrode in the center and two concentric ring electrodes around it. This interfaces with an aqueous solution of quinone molecules.<\/p>\n
A voltage applied to the central disk generates a current of hydrogen ions in the quinone solution. Meanwhile, the two ring electrodes modulate the pH of the solution to gate, increasing or decreasing the ionic current.<\/p>\n