[extropy-chat] Desirability of Singularity (was Are ancestor simulations immoral?)

[Russell Wallace]

On 6/6/06, Eugen Leitl <eugen at leitl.org> wrote:
>
> Neurons are not particularly good at multiplication. However...
> Is 0.3 eV for a single switching event good enough for you?
> http://physicsweb.org/articles/news/7/2/11
>
> Notice that a spintronics device is completely static; i.e. it consumes
> no energy when it's not switching.


Yeah, spintronics looks very promising.

Would single-photon emitters and detectors be good enough for you?
> In principle you can compute with about the same amount of energy
> a single enzymatic reaction takes. Plenty of room at the bottom,
> obviously.


Yeah... you'd be looking at, what, theoretically on the order of 100 kT per
bit... which is actually pretty good considering it's nearly independent of
distance, not to mention fast. Fiber optic threads are fat compared to
molecules of course... (or transmit across free space, but then the
receptors need to be large compared to molecules)... but you could use
optics for long haul transmission, and something more compact for more local
transmission.
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