Building a synthetic brain is no easy undertaking, but
researchers working on the problem have to start somewhere. In
doing so, engineers at the University of Southern California
have taken a huge step by building a synthetic synapse from
carbon nanotubes. In tests, their synapse circuit functions very
much like a real neuron--neurons being the very building blocks
of the brain. Tapping the unique properties of carbon nanotubes,
their lab was able to essentially recreate brain function in a
very fractional way.Of course, duplicating synapse firings in a
nanotube circuit and creating synthetic brain function are two
very different things. The human brain, as we well know, is very
complex and hardly static like the inner workings of a computer.
Over time it makes new connections, adapts to changes, and
produces new neurons. But while a functioning synthetic brain
may be decades away, the synthetic synapse is here now, which
could help researchers model neuron communications and otherwise
begin building, from th