Human Brain vs the Super Computer ?

This post is cross-posted from http://goo.gl/7vsEk. Pardon the grammatical errors, but I posted this as a reference for myself.




The modern science believe that if the human brain can work to its full potential, free of all the fears, tension, complexes etc., it can be much more efficient (2-3 times) than the super computer.

The major functions of the super computer are memory and speed. Memory is confined in the Bites and speed in FLOPS (Floating Point Operations per Second). One thousand Bytes are defined by K and one thousand K from a Mega. The memory of a standard PC runs from 16 MB (Mega Bytes) to 22 MB. The storage space (of data) though goes upto many Giga Bytes (1000 Mega=1 Giga). In spool type storage computers, the Bytes are calculated in Tera Bytes (100 Giga=1Tera). On the other hand, human brain uses Neurons (or brain cells) to store the memory. Although the scientists have not been able to put together a definite figure, recent findings put it to approx. 20 billion. These Neurons are, in turn, connected with each other through fibrous tissues. These joints are virtually uncountable and the approx. figure is put at 1000 billion. If we consider each joint as one byte, the approx. capacity would be 1000 Giga Bytes or 10 Tera Byte. As a RAM, this is much more than any super computer.
As far as the speed is concerned, speed of a modern computer is calculated in FLOPS or Floating Point Operations per Second. K2 super computer's speed is approx. 1 Giga FLOPS. K2 was one of the earlier computers. By 1990 the speed was improvised ten times; being 10 Giga FLOPS. Further innovation came in CM5 in 1992 which ran at 100 Giga FLOPS. The latest one, however, has surpassed all earlier inventions and has a speed of 2 Tera FLOPS. We shall analyze the speed of human brain in comparison.

If there is an electrical vibration in Neuron, it is considered activated. When the electric charge flows in the Neuron, it is said that the Neuron is "Fired". At a time 1% to 10% Neurons are fired in the brain. Each Neuron, in turn, fires (or vibrates) 100 times per second. From the total Neurons of 20 billion, if 1% to 10%, i.e. 200 million to 2 billion Neurons fire 100 times per second, we can surmise the speed of the brain. If one Fire of Neuron is considered 1 FLOPS, the speed (of only 1% to 10% capacity) would be from 20 giga FLOPS to 200 giga FLOPS. If we assume that all the Neurons Fire in the brain at one time at a rate of 100 Fires per second, the total speed would be 20 billion x 100 FLOPS per second; i.e. 2000 giga or 20 Tera FLOPS that is much beyond the speed of any super computer.

We can, therefore, see that in both the capacity and speed the human brain is much more efficient and capable that a modern computer.

Something to think about....

The human body is considered to be one of the most supreme manifestations of nature's creations. It is believed to be the most complex structure on earth, consisting of billions of cells performing billions and billions of various life supporting activities every second. The most complex cells in the body are of course the brain cells or the neurons. Just as complex, is the foetal cells, found in the female body in the umbilical cord during the period of pregnancy. A few hundred lies in the placenta too.

According to tests conducted, scientists have determined successfully that the foetal cells are responsible for the protection of the foetus from various hereditary diseases. These diseases are caused due to exchange of body fluids between the mother and the foetus. These foetal cells are so complex in their orientation in the thin umbilical cord that they have the ability to distinguish between the nutritive cells and the diseased ones. The HIV virus has been an exception as it mutates the DNA of the cells. Nothing apart from these can be transferred from the mother to the foetus and vice versa. Is that so?

Well, recently scientists have embarked upon a mind blowing journey that baffled them due to its complexity. It has been found that after gestation (child birth), these foetal cells overcome all the various barriers and instead of disintegrating, travel all the way to the mother's brain and occupy a place in the cerebrum in an area which remains emotionally active for the next 21 years, after which they finally disintegrate.

It is believed that, it is these cells that account for the emotional attachment between mother and child. Even though the child doesn't feel much attached to his mother after a particular stage, the mother still tends to be always attached ad caring even though she doesn't realize it. This phenomenon is active strongly in the first 10 years after child birth, irrespective of whether the child is dead, abandoned or alive. It is believed that mothers of dead and abandoned children too remember about them as frequently as every six months.

After 21 years the emotional activeness is at its least value, but not absent. This remarkable phenomenon has been observed in most mammals and in a few crustaceans and arthropods.

Something to really think about then!!!