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AnonTechie writes:

A new kind of computer chip, unveiled by IBM today, takes design cues from the wrinkled outer layer of the human brain. Though it is no match for a conventional microprocessor at crunching numbers, the chip consumes significantly less power, and is vastly better suited to processing images, sound, and other sensory data.

IBM's SyNapse chip processes information using a network of just over one million "neurons," which communicate with one another using electrical spikes-as actual neurons do. The chip uses the same basic components as today's commercial chips-silicon transistors. But its transistors are configured to mimic the behaviour of both neurons and the connections-synapses-between them.