Bits and Atoms

30.08.2002

Foredragsholdere
Neil Gershenfeld

Abstact:
The digital revolution has given us a clear distinction between hardware and software, between channels and the content they carry, between physical science and computer science, and ultimately between intelligence and its embodiment. But it is right at these boundaries between the bits of the digital world and the atoms of our physical world that the most compelling opportunities and problems in information technology lay. I will discuss the science underlying the integration of information with its physical properties over length scales from atomic nuclei to planetary networks, and discuss its implications for the life of people, and their machines. Examples will be drawn from projects addressing new quantum and classical mechanisms for manipulating information, the interface between biological and digital systems, the personalization of fabrication, and the development of appropriate information technologies for global development.



Biography:
Prof. Neil Gershenfeld is the Director of MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms, and he co-directs the Media Lab Asia's Technical Advisory Group. His unique laboratory investigates the relationship between the content of information and its physical representation, from molecular quantum computers to virtuosic musical instruments. Technology from his lab has been seen and used in settings including the Museum of Modern Art and Indian villages, the White House/Smithsonian Millennium celebration and automobile safety systems, Las Vegas shows and rural farms. He is the author of numerous technical publications, patents, and the best-selling books "When Things Start To Think," "The Nature of Mathematical Modeling," and "The Physics of Information Technology," and has been featured in media such as The New York Times, The Economist, CNN, and the McNeil/Lehrer News Hour. Dr. Gershenfeld has a BA in Physics with High Honors from Swarthmore College, a Ph.D. from Cornell University, was a Junior Fellow of the Harvard University Society of Fellows, and a member of the research staff at Bell Labs.



Alle interesserte er hjertelig velkomne til å delta på foredraget. Eventuelle spørsmål i tilknytning til Gershenfeld sitt foredrag ved Institutt for informatikk kan rettes til Otto J. Anshus, tlf 7764 4049.