The human brain is remarkably energy efficient. Using just 20 watts of power, it is capable of processing data equivalent to one exaflop - or a billion billion math operations per second, Science Alert reported.
Now researchers in Australia are building the world's first supercomputer that can simulate networks on such a scale. The supercomputer, known as DeepSouth, is being developed by the University of Western Sydney.
When it goes live next year, it will be able to perform 228 trillion synaptic operations per second, which is equivalent to the expected speed of operations in the human brain.
The hope is to better understand how the brain can use so little energy to process vast amounts of information. If researchers can figure this out, they may one day be able to create a cyborg brain that is far more powerful than a human's.
"Progress in our understanding of how the brain computes, using neurons, has been hampered by our inability to simulate brain-like networks on a large scale," said Andre van Schaik, director of the International Center for Neuromorphic Systems at the University of Western Sydney.
Ralph Etienne-Cummings of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, said DeepSouth will change the rules for studying neuroscience. "If you're trying to understand the brain, this is going to be the hardware to do it on," he said.
Etienne-Cummings believes that there are two main types of researchers who will be interested in the technology - those who study neuroscience and those who want to create prototypes of new engineering solutions in the field of artificial intelligence.
DeepSouth is just one of many research projects aiming to create a machine that can rival the human brain. Other researchers are trying to tackle the same problem by creating "biological computers" powered by real brain cells. /BGNES
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