Watson's next test: health care

IBM's Watson computer marched into pop-culture history last year by outscoring two former "Jeopardy!" Now, the Minnesota-made computer system is moving into real-world business applications, and the state's health care industry is looking for ways to tap in. Named after Thomas J. Watson Sr., the influential early leader of IBM, Watson is an artificial intelligence computer system whose brainpower comes from multiple computers that are engineered and manufactured at the IBM facility in Rochester. With a souped-up processing system that can ingest reams of data, analyze it and spit out results in the blink of an eye, IBM officials believe that turning Watson's brainpower onto the medical system can reduce errors and improve the quality of care. Watson is much more than a search engine with access to encyclopedic amounts information.