Two researchers in the Netherlands helmed the construction of a
LEGO Turing machine, a quirky manifestation of the classic
computer science concept first devised by Alan Turing in 1936.
The device, built by Jereon van den Bos and Davy Landman using a
single LEGO Mindstorms NXT set, is one of the most impressive -
and simple -- attempts we've seen at building a physical Turing
original model has an infinite tape," write the researchers,
"but LEGO had a slight problem supplying infinite bricks. So we
chose to fix our tape size to 32 positions." machine was a
purely theoretical concept. Several attempts at crafting LEGO
Turing machines have been made in the past, with varying levels
of success. And a fanciful mechanical Turing machine built by
Jim MacArthur was unveiled in 2011 at Maker Faire UK. Turing
would have turned 100 years old this Saturday. Events are being
organised worldwide this year to commemorate the centennial of
the computer scientist's birth. The LEGO Turing machine is
currently on display as pa