WSPC BOOK SERIES IN UNCONVENTIONAL COMPUTING – serie

Did you know that computation can be implemented with cytoskeleton networks, chemical reactions, liquid marbles, plants, polymers and dozens of other living and inanimate substrates? Do you know what is reversible computing or a DNA microscopy? Are you aware that randomness aids computation? Would you like to make logical circuits from enzymatic reactions? Have you ever tried to implement digital logic with Minecraft? Do you know that eroding sandstones can compute too?This volume reviews most of the key attempts in coming up with an alternative way of computation. In doing so, the authors show that we do not need computers to compute and we do not need computation to infer. It invites readers to rethink the computer and computing, and appeals to computer scientists, mathematicians, physicists and philosophers. The topics are presented in a lively and easily accessible manner and make for ideal supplementary reading across a broad range of subjects.Related Link(s)

The unique compendium re-assesses the value of future and emergent computing technologies via artistic and philosophical means. The book encourages scientists to adopt inspiring thinking of artists and philosophers to reuse scientific concepts in their works.The useful reference text consists of non-typical topics, where artistic and philosophical concepts encourage readers to adopt unconventional approaches towards computing and immerse themselves into discoveries of future emerging landscape.Related Link(s)

This unique comprehensive compendium provides extensive studies on reversible cellular automata (RCAs), exhibiting a wide range of interesting phenomena similar to the Game-of-Life, a well-known irreversible CA.The useful reference text also introduces innovative approaches to constructing universal computers in a reversible cellular space. Numerous figures are included to illustrate the evolution of RCA configurations, and to elucidate theoretical results on RCAs. Additionally, readers can observe evolution processes of various RCAs on the free CA simulator Golly using supplementary files.

Actin, a fundamental building block of intracellular cytoskeletal filaments, holds immense potential as a platform for information processing. In this groundbreaking book, the authors establish a solid theoretical and modelling foundation for the future experimental prototyping of actin-based cytoskeleton computers in laboratory settings.By delving into the mechanisms of signal propagation and perturbations on actin filaments, the authors uncover the underlying principles of information processing at the sub-cellular level. Through their innovative insights, novel principles for information processing emerge, potentially revolutionising the field of future and emergent information technologies and computational biology.The book's theoretical and modelling framework serves as a crucial stepping stone towards the experimental realisation of actin-based cytoskeleton computers. Bridging the gap between theory and practice, researchers and scientists can leverage this knowledge to conduct experiments, validate hypotheses, and explore the practical implications of actin-based computing systems.

An apocalyptic event reverses civilisation's control over nature. Instead, civilisation is placed under the control of nature. The domains of science and engineering that will adapt to a post-apocalyptic world are those whose status was marginal in the former civilisation. In this edited volume, we have invited specialists from various fields (computer scientists, chemists, mathematicians, engineers, biologists, physicists and philosophers) to share their insights on how information acquisition, information processing, decision-making, and reasoning might evolve after apocalyptic events, with the aim of shaping the design of the next von Neumann generation of computers.The book explores diverse topics such as the theory of computation, eternity of civilisations, computable knowledge, analog computation, bio-inspired fault tolerance, reversible cellular automata, catastrophe theory and the collapse of complex systems, bio-inspired soft robots, computing with exotic substrates (like clocks, stones and sticks, fluids, slime moulds, minimal resources), decomposition of meanings, collective computing, biological computing, neo-sentience, parallel algorithms and the metaphysics of the apocalypse.

The modern music industry depends critically on computers. The development of conventional digital computing technology for music has been progressing in tandem with the evolution of computers since the 1950s. Therefore, future developments in quantum computing are most likely to impact the way in which musicians will create, perform, and conduct research.Classical computers manipulate information represented in terms of binary digits, each of, which can be equal to 1 (on) or 0 (off). They work with microprocessors made up of billions of tiny switches that are activated by electric signals. In contrast, a quantum computer deals with information in terms of quantum bits (qubits), which can operate at the subatomic level. In other words, they directly work in the realm of quantum physics. Since they can run algorithms that are non-tractable to run on digital computers, quantum computers are surfacing as a promising disruptive technology.Advances in Quantum Computer Music collates a comprehensive collection of chapters by pioneers of emerging interdisciplinary research at the crossroads of quantum computing and music. Together, these pioneers hope to anticipate and prototype the unprecedented new uses for this technology that are bound to emerge from their cutting-edge research.

Proteinoid Proto-Neural Networks explores the emergence of electrical activity, spiking behavior, and adaptive responses, supported by electrochemical, optical, and acoustic studies that reveal proteinoid-based logic, memory, and learning. It demonstrates how proteinoids, which are synthetic polymers formed from amino acids under high temperature, self-organize into excitable microspheres and assemble into protoneural networks capable of unconventional computation. By blending experimental biophysics with neuromorphic modeling and unconventional computing theory, this monograph establishes proteinoid systems as a platform for wetware computing and the study of emergent intelligence.This book is perfectly suited for researchers in computer science, computer engineering, soft matter physics, novel materials, neuromorphic engineering and computing, as well as those exploring bio-inspired systems, unconventional computing architectures, and the physicochemical foundations of proto-neural behavior.