Chemical Computing, the Future of Artificial Intelligence - OpenMind

In 1951, the Russian chemist Boris Belousov sent to a scientific journal a study in which he described an astonishing discovery: while trying to simulate a metabolic process in the laboratory, he had discovered a chemical reaction that occurred and then reversed itself on its own, alternating between a yellow colour and a colourless state. Belousov couldn't find any journal willing to publish his results, since they appeared to violate a fundamental law of nature. However, his work--which only came to light in 1959 through a brief presentation at a symposium--has become, half a century later, the foundation stone of a new discipline: chemical computing. This technological path is an alternative to quantum computing and conventional computing, capable of processing in parallel based on the same operating principles as our brain, promising futuristic applications, such as integrating in our body in the form of intelligent biosensors. Computing is based on the use of logic gates, which process a data input--usually in binary code--to produce a result or output.