Between Biological & Digital Memory David Wishart Depts. Biological Sciences & Computing Science National Institute for Nanotechnology University of Alberta

Outline Biological Memory & Biological Senses Biological Versus Digital How Digital Memory works Memory Capacity and Knowledge Integrating Biological with Digital

Biological Memory & Biological Senses

Biological Versus Digital

How Digital Memory works

Memory Capacity and Knowledge

Integrating Biological with Digital

The Human Brain The world’s fastest and most portable computer

The Human Brain There are 10 10 neurons in our brains There are roughly 10 15 synapses operating at about 10 impulses/second (Biggest CPUs have 10 8 transistors) Approximately 10 16 synapse operations per second (Fastest computer [Blue Gene] perform at 10 14 FLOPS) Total energy consumption of the brain is about 25 watts (Blue Gene requires 1.5 Megawatts) http://www.merkle.com/brainLimits.html

There are 10 10 neurons in our brains

There are roughly 10 15 synapses operating at about 10 impulses/second (Biggest CPUs have 10 8 transistors)

Approximately 10 16 synapse operations per second (Fastest computer [Blue Gene] perform at 10 14 FLOPS)

Total energy consumption of the brain is about 25 watts (Blue Gene requires 1.5 Megawatts)

Human Memory Declarative memory - the storage and recall of information available to the conscious mind, which can therefore be expressed (declared) using language – There are 3 types: Semantic memory (facts and knowledge) Episodic memory (memory for specific events and experiences) Prospective memory (remembering to do something in the future)

Declarative memory - the storage and recall of information available to the conscious mind, which can therefore be expressed (declared) using language – There are 3 types:

Semantic memory (facts and knowledge)

Episodic memory (memory for specific events and experiences)

Prospective memory (remembering to do something in the future)

Persistence of Memory (Biological) Immediate memory 1-60 sec Short-term memory 10 min-2 weeks Long-term memory 2 weeks-20 yrs Max. memory (1 person) 100 yrs Max. memory (written) 5000 yrs Max. memory (humanity) 20,000 yrs Max. memory (biology) 1 billion yrs

Immediate memory 1-60 sec

Short-term memory 10 min-2 weeks

Long-term memory 2 weeks-20 yrs

Max. memory (1 person) 100 yrs

Max. memory (written) 5000 yrs

Max. memory (humanity) 20,000 yrs

Max. memory (biology) 1 billion yrs

How Memories Are Formed Emotional Reinforcement

Mapping Sensory Memories

Evolution of Biological Sensors Decreasing Strength of the Memory 2 billion 530 million 150 million 750 million 450 million

Mapping The Sensory Experience Homunculus

Extending Our Senses 1 m 1 x 10 3 m 1x10 18 m 1x10 24 m Free $500 $5000 $500,000,000

Extending Our Memory Capacity 20,000 BP 5000 BP 500 BP 100 BP Today

Powering Memory (Biological vs. Digital) 10 Watts for the Human Brain 12 Watts for a Laptop

Different Types of Biological Memory Reflex Immunity Hippocampus Genetic 1 sec 10 years 100 years 1,000,000,000 years

Different Types of Digital Memory RAM Floppy Disk CD/DVD Flash Memory 1 sec 3 years 10 years 100 years?

Digital vs. Biological

How Digital Memory Works

Evolution of Digital Memory

Outline Biological Memory & Biological Senses Biological Versus Digital How Digital Memory works Memory Capacity and Knowledge Integrating Biological with Digital

Biological Memory & Biological Senses

Biological Versus Digital

How Digital Memory works

Memory Capacity and Knowledge

Integrating Biological with Digital

Capacity of Human Memory? Von Neumann (1950) – 10 20 bits or about 1 Exabyte (1 byte = 8 bits) Anatomists (1970’s) – 10 13 -10 15 synapses allowing 10 16 syn-ops/sec Landauer (1986*) – 100 Megabytes Determined that we retain 2 bits/sec of visual, verbal, tactile, musical memory Human lifetime ~ 2.5 billion seconds Thomas K. Landauer "How Much Do People Remember? Some Estimates of the Quantity of Learned Information in Long-term Memory" Cognitive Science 10, 477-493, 1986

Von Neumann (1950) – 10 20 bits or about 1 Exabyte (1 byte = 8 bits)

Anatomists (1970’s) – 10 13 -10 15 synapses allowing 10 16 syn-ops/sec

Landauer (1986*) – 100 Megabytes

Determined that we retain 2 bits/sec of visual, verbal, tactile, musical memory

Human lifetime ~ 2.5 billion seconds

Putting it into Perspective 1 Human = 100 Megabytes Data on the Web = 1x10 15 bytes Library of Congress = 3x10 15 bytes # of Words ever written = 10 15 (or about 10 16 bytes) # of Words ever spoken = 10 18 (or about 10 19 bytes) Memory of all humans ever lived = 1x10 19 bytes Data on all Digital Media = 3x10 19 bytes http://www.lesk.com/mlesk/ksg97/ksg.html

1 Human = 100 Megabytes

Data on the Web = 1x10 15 bytes

Library of Congress = 3x10 15 bytes

# of Words ever written = 10 15 (or about 10 16 bytes)

# of Words ever spoken = 10 18 (or about 10 19 bytes)

Memory of all humans ever lived = 1x10 19 bytes

Data on all Digital Media = 3x10 19 bytes

The Data Explosion 1 newspaper in 1605 10,000 newspapers today 3 scientific journals in 1750 120,000 scientific journals today 1 book title published in 1450 900,000 book titles/year today 1 page on the Web in 1990 8,058,044,651 web pages on Google

1 newspaper in 1605

10,000 newspapers today

3 scientific journals in 1750

120,000 scientific journals today

1 book title published in 1450

900,000 book titles/year today

1 page on the Web in 1990

8,058,044,651 web pages on Google

Global Memory Capacity 30 billion CDs sold since 1990 (2x10 18 bytes) 5 billion DVDs sold since 2000 (2x10 19 bytes) 900 million computers ever sold (2x10 18 bytes) 20 million MP3 players sold since 2002 (2x10 17 bytes)

30 billion CDs sold since 1990 (2x10 18 bytes)

5 billion DVDs sold since 2000 (2x10 19 bytes)

900 million computers ever sold (2x10 18 bytes)

20 million MP3 players sold since 2002 (2x10 17 bytes)

Can We Store All Personal (Text) Experience? The average person spends 1,578 hours watching TV, 12 hours a year at movies, at 120 words per minute that's 11 million words (~50 Mbytes) The average person spends 354 hours a year of reading periodicals and books at 300 words per minute reading speed would be another 32 Mbytes of text In seventy years of life you would be exposed to around 6 Gbytes of ASCII text

The average person spends 1,578 hours watching TV, 12 hours a year at movies, at 120 words per minute that's 11 million words (~50 Mbytes)

The average person spends 354 hours a year of reading periodicals and books at 300 words per minute reading speed would be another 32 Mbytes of text

In seventy years of life you would be exposed to around 6 Gbytes of ASCII text

Can We Store All Personal (Visual) Experience? 1 hour of video on a DVD = 2.5 Gbytes Average # hours lived = 600,000 hours Total number of bytes is approximately 1500 Terabytes (~1.5 x 10 15 bytes)

1 hour of video on a DVD = 2.5 Gbytes

Average # hours lived = 600,000 hours

Total number of bytes is approximately 1500 Terabytes (~1.5 x 10 15 bytes)

Can We Store All Human Experience & Knowledge? Global quantity of films (10,000+ titles/year) ~50 terabytes/year Global quantity of written words (900,000 book titles, 10,000 newspapers/year) ~160 terabytes/year Global quantity of photographs (~100 billion/year) ~10 18 bytes/year 2 billion minutes/year of phone/voice transmission ~2 x 10 19 bytes/year http://www.lesk.com/mlesk/ksg97/ksg.html

Global quantity of films (10,000+ titles/year) ~50 terabytes/year

Global quantity of written words (900,000 book titles, 10,000 newspapers/year) ~160 terabytes/year

Global quantity of photographs (~100 billion/year) ~10 18 bytes/year

2 billion minutes/year of phone/voice transmission ~2 x 10 19 bytes/year

Integrating Digital with Biological

Wearable Computing The CharmIT is a modular lightweight open-architecture wearable computer that's compact but fully featured, equipped with most everything you'd expect in a modern PC, from Charmed.com (SIGGRAF Fashion Show 2004)

Reaching Out 10m 100m 1000m 100km 10,000km bluetooth WiFi WalkieTalkie Cell phone Satellite

Shrinking Down

Shrinking Way Down Single Molecule Field Effect Transistor

Shrinking Way Down

Nanobot Challenge Build a bacterium that seeks a light source target, then touches the target and on touching sends out a flashing signal

Build a bacterium that seeks a light source target, then touches the target and on touching sends out a flashing signal

Protein Memory Chips h  Low Energy High Energy N N S S

Summary Biological Memory & Biological Senses Biological Versus Digital How Digital Memory works Memory Capacity and Knowledge Integrating Biological with Digital

Biological Memory & Biological Senses

Biological Versus Digital

How Digital Memory works

Memory Capacity and Knowledge

Integrating Biological with Digital

Art Imitates Life Engineers Imitate Life

Some Final Thoughts… "The best memory is that which forgets nothing, but injuries. Write kindness in marble and write injuries in the dust.“ – Persian Proverb "Everyone has a photographic memory. Some don't have film.“ – Anonymous "God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December.“ – James Matthew Barrie

"The best memory is that which forgets nothing, but injuries. Write kindness in marble and write injuries in the dust.“ – Persian Proverb

"Everyone has a photographic memory. Some don't have film.“ – Anonymous

"God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December.“ – James Matthew Barrie