X-Message-Number: 26290
From: "Mikhail Soloviev" <>
Subject: Blue Brain Project (uploading-related news)
Date: Mon, 06 Jun 2005 13:42:31 +0200

Campus welcomes arrival of Blue Gene

swissinfo  June 6, 2005

Lausanne s Federal Institute of Technology is hoping to boost its research
by hosting one of the world s fastest computers on its campus, IBM s Blue
Gene.

The supercomputer will be used primarily to penetrate the mysteries of
the brain, but plenty of other researchers are lining up to make use of the
prototype.

<...>

The Blue Brain project, as it s called, will focus primarily on 
neuroscience.
Scientists from the institute want to create a detailed model of the
neocortex, the largest and most complex part of the mammal brain.

They hope to extend their work to the rest of the brain, something that
has never been attempted before at the cellular level. They should also
gain better understanding of processes such as thought, perception and
memory, as well as some of the causes of psychiatric disorders.

<...>

* * *

Full text:



http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=106&sid=5845438&cKey=1118052289000

* * *

More on the Blue Brain Project:

http://domino.research.ibm.com/comm/pr.nsf/pages/rsc.bluegene_cognitive.html

IBM press-release on the subject (or read it below):



http://domino.research.ibm.com/comm/pr.nsf/pages/news.20050606_CognitiveIntelligence.html

[ It actually reminds me CCortex: http://www.ad.com/tech.html ]

* * *

IBM and EPFL Join Forces to Uncover the Secrets of Cognitive Intelligence

IBM s Blue Gene supercomputer tackles major scientific challenge   
scientists
to create a complex digital 3D model of the brain

Yorktown Heights, NY and Lausanne, Switzerland, June 6, 2005

IBM and The Ecole Polytechnique F d rale de Lausanne
(EPFL) are today announcing a major joint research
initiative   nicknamed the Blue Brain Project   to take
brain research to a new level.
Over the next two years scientists from both organizations
will work together using the huge computational capacity of
IBM s eServer Blue Gene supercomputer to create a detailed
model of the circuitry in the neocortex   the largest and
most complex part of the human brain. By expanding the
project to model other areas of the brain, scientists hope
to eventually build an accurate, computer-based model of
the entire brain.

Relatively little is actually known about how the brain
works. Using the digital model scientists will run
computer-based simulations of the brain at the molecular
level, shedding light on internal processes such as
thought, perception and memory. Scientists also hope to
understand more about how and why certain microcircuits in
the brain malfunction   thought to be the cause of
psychiatric disorders such as autism, schizophrenia and
depression.

 Modeling the brain at the cellular level is a massive
undertaking because of the hundreds of thousands of
parameters that need to be taken into account,  said Henry
Markram, the EPFL professor heading up the project.  IBM
has unparalleled experience in biological simulations and
the most advanced supercomputing technology in the world.
With our combined resources and expertise we are embarking
on one of the most ambitious research initiatives ever
undertaken in the field of neuroscience. 

Markram is the founder of EPFL s Brain and Mind Institute,
where more than 10 years of research and wet-lab
experiments have been consolidated into the world s most
comprehensive set of empirical data on the micro-
architecture of the neocortex.

Researchers from IBM will use their experience in
simulating complex biological systems to help turn this
data into a working 3-dimensional model recreating the
high-speed electro-chemical interactions of the brain s
interior. Running on 4 racks of Blue Gene, the model will
be capable of simulating brain processes in three
dimensions with a precision never before achieved.

 Blue Gene is by far the fastest supercomputing system in
the world, giving scientists access to unprecedented levels
of computing power,  said Tilak Agerwala, Vice President of
Systems, IBM Research.  What really matters is not the
power itself, but how it is applied to accelerate
innovation and discovery in science, engineering and
business. 

By using a Blue Gene supercomputer to run experiments in
real time, Markram anticipates a substantial acceleration
in the pace of brain research.  With an accurate computer-
based model of the brain much of the pre-testing and
planning normally required for a major experiment could be
done  in silico  rather than in the laboratory. With
certain simulations we anticipate that a full day s worth
of wet lab research could be done in a matter of seconds on
Blue Gene. 

The system that will be installed at EPFL will occupy the
floor space of about four refrigerators, and will have a
peak processing speed of at least 22.8 trillion floating-
point operations per second (22.8 teraflops), making it one
of the most powerful supercomputers in the world.

The first phase of the project will be to make a software
replica of a column of the neocortex. The neocortex
constitutes about 85% of the human brain s total mass and
is thought to be responsible for the cognitive functions of
language, learning, memory and complex thought. An accurate
replica of the neocortical column is the essential first
step to simulating the whole brain and also will provide
the link between genetic, molecular and cognitive levels of
brain function. The second and subsequent phases will be to
expand the simulation to include circuitry from other brain
regions and eventually the whole brain.

As part of the agreement with IBM, some of Blue Gene s time
will also be allotted to other ambitious research projects.
In one of the projects, researchers from IBM s Zurich
Research Lab will work together with scientists from EPFL s
Institutes of Complex Matter Physics and Nanostructure
Physics to research future semiconductor (post-CMOS)
technology such as carbon nanotubes; part of the continuing
quest to build smaller semiconductors and microchips.

Elsewhere at EPFL, researchers will use Blue Gene to look
at the use of plasmas as a possible method of energy
production. Another team will use Blue Gene to research the
folding of proteins and their role in the development of
Creutzfeldt-Jakob (mad cow) and other diseases.

_________________________________________________________________
Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today it's FREE! 
http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/

Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=26290