Chemical computers make a step forward

Still can't play games, though.

Scientists have been having a few breakthroughs getting EU cash for projects that run computers, of a sort, in test tubes, according to the BBC.

The chemical "wet computer" is not a reference to one that has had coffee poured over it, but is a holy grail for researchers who want to take the chips out of the computational process.

A three-year project has just been given the nod by the EU funding committee. It aims to mimic some of the actions of neurons in the brain. It will make use of stable "cells" featuring a coating that forms spontaneously, like the walls of our own cells, and uses chemistry to accomplish signal processing similar to the ways neurons work.

Top boffin Klaus-Peter Zauner of the University of Southampton in the UK said the aim will not be to get it to run Counterstrike but to compute in new environments.

He said the research will open up application domains where current information technology does not offer any solutions, such as controlling molecular robots, fine-grained control of chemical assembly and intelligent drugs that process the chemical signals of the human body and act according to the local biochemical state of the cell.