Figure Out the Smart Mouse

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Meet Mus silicium, a virtual mouse made up of a simulated network of brain cells. Mus silicium cannot forage for cheese, scurry across the floor, or even squeak. But it can do one thing most mice can't--recognize the word "one" spoken by a variety of voices, even under noisy conditions. The rodent is really a computer simulation of a network of 660 brain cell-like components. John J. Hopfield, a Princeton University professor known for his ideas on information processing and associative memory systems, and New York University neurobiologist Carlos Brody are offering a cash prize to anyone who can determine the inner workings of the mouse. For details see http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/special/mouse/index.html.

Contact: Samuel K. Moore, 212 419 7921, [email protected].For faxed copies of the complete article ["Figure out the Smart Mouse: deadline December 1," by Samuel K. Moore, IEEE Spectrum Online], contact: Nancy T. Hantman, 212 419 7561, [email protected].

URL: http://www.spectrum.ieee.org