Honey holds potential for making brain-like computer chips

Date:
April 5, 2022
Source:
Washington State University
Summary:
Honey might be a sweet solution for developing environmentally
friendly components for neuromorphic computers, systems designed
to mimic the neurons and synapses found in the human brain. Hailed
by some as the future of computing, neuromorphic systems are much
faster and use much less power than traditional computers. Engineers
have demonstrated one way to make them more organic too by using
honey to make a memristor, a component similar to a transistor that
can not only process but also store data in memory. They created the
memristors by processing honey into a solid form and sandwiching it
between two metal electrodes, making a structure similar to a human
synapse. They then tested the honey memristors' ability to mimic
the work of synapses with high switching on and off speeds of 100
and 500 nanoseconds respectively. The memristors also emulated the
synapse functions known as spike-timing dependent plasticity and
spike-rate dependent plasticity, which are responsible for learning
processes in human brains and retaining new information in neurons.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Honey might be a sweet solution for developing environmentally friendly components for neuromorphic computers, systems designed to mimic the
neurons and synapses found in the human brain. Hailed by some as the
future of computing, neuromorphic systems are much faster and use much
less power than traditional computers. Engineers have demonstrated one
way to make them more organic too by using honey to make a memristor,
a component similar to a transistor that can not only process but also
store data in memory. VANCOUVER, Wash. -- Honey might be a sweet solution
for developing environmentally friendly components for neuromorphic
computers, systems designed to mimic the neurons and synapses found in
the human brain.


========================================================================== Hailed by some as the future of computing, neuromorphic systems are much
faster and use much less power than traditional computers. Washington
State University engineers have demonstrated one way to make them more
organic too. In a study published in Journal of Physics D,the researchers
show that honey can be used to make a memristor, a component similar to
a transistor that can not only process but also store data in memory.

"This is a very small device with a simple structure, but it has very
similar functionalities to a human neuron," said Feng Zhao, associate
professor of WSU's School of Engineering and Computer Science and
corresponding author on the study."This means if we can integrate millions
or billions of these honey memristors together, then they can be made into
a neuromorphic system that functions much like a human brain." For the
study, Zhao and first author Brandon Sueoka, a WSU graduate student in
Zhao's lab, created memristors by processing honey into a solid form and sandwiching it between two metal electrodes, making a structure similar to
a human synapse. They then tested the honey memristors' ability to mimic
the work of synapses with high switching on and off speeds of 100 and
500 nanoseconds respectively. The memristors also emulated the synapse functions known as spike-timing dependent plasticity and spike-rate
dependent plasticity, which are responsible for learning processes in
human brains and retaining new information in neurons.

The WSU engineers created the honey memristors on a micro-scale, so they
are about the size of a human hair. The research team led by Zhao plans
to develop them on a nanoscale, about 1/1000 of a human hair, and bundle
many millions or even billions together to make a full neuromorphic
computing system.

Currently, conventional computer systems are based on what's called the
von Neumann architecture. Named after its creator, this architecture
involves an input, usually from a keyboard and mouse, and an output,
such as the monitor.

It also has a CPU, or central processing unit, and RAM, or memory storage.

Transferring data through all these mechanisms from input to processing
to memory to output takes a lot of power at least compared to the human
brain, Zhao said. For instance, the Fugaku supercomputer uses upwards
of 28 megawatts, roughly equivalent to 28 million watts, to run while
the brain uses only around 10 to 20 watts.



==========================================================================
The human brain has more than 100 billion neurons with more than 1,000
trillion synapses, or connections, among them. Each neuron can both
process and store data, which makes the brain much more efficient than
a traditional computer, and developers of neuromorphic computing systems
aim to mimic that structure.

Several companies, including Intel and IBM, have released neuromorphic
chips which have the equivalent of more than 100 million "neurons" per
chip, but this is not yet near the number in the brain. Many developers
are also still using the same nonrenewable and toxic materials that are currently used in conventional computer chips.

Many researchers, including Zhao's team, are searching for biodegradable
and renewable solutions for use in this promising new type of
computing. Zhao is also leading investigations into using proteins and
other sugars such as those found in Aloe vera leaves in this capacity,
but he sees strong potential in honey.

"Honey does not spoil," he said. "It has a very low moisture
concentration, so bacteria cannot survive in it. This means these computer chips will be very stable and reliable for a very long time." The honey memristor chips developed at WSU should tolerate the lower levels of heat generated by neuromorphic systems which do not get as hot as traditional computers. The honey memristors will also cut down on electronic waste.

"When we want to dispose of devices using computer chips made of honey,
we can easily dissolve them in water," he said. "Because of these special properties, honey is very useful for creating renewable and biodegradable neuromorphic systems." This also means, Zhao cautioned, that just like conventional computers, users will still have to avoid spilling their
coffee on them.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Washington_State_University. Original written by Sara Zaske. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Brandon Sueoka, Feng Zhao. Memristive synaptic device based on
a natural
organic material--honey for spiking neural network in biodegradable
neuromorphic systems. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 2022;
55 (22): 225105 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6463/ac585b ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/04/220405084610.htm

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