Avalon Advanced Materials Inc.

My favourite series of novels are far and away the Culture novels by UK native Iain M. Banks. The science fiction novels are set in a post scarcity society (“Money is sign of poverty.”), where humans do whatever they want, and all drudgery is performed by non-sentient technology. The whole supply chain is run by Minds — highly developed artificial intelligence (AI) whose thought processes run in hyperspace (sidestepping that pesky speed of light limitation articulated by Einstein).

What does this have to do with anything rare metals? It isn’t a big stretch – researchers at the Optoelectronics Research Centre at University of Southampton, UK and Centre for Disruptive Photonic Technologies at the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore have established how “neural networks and synapses in the brain can be reproduced, with optical pulses as information carriers.” This is the stuff of science fiction folks, now enabled by lanthanum.

Sourced from Mid-Day.com

Specifically, chalcogenide glass microfibers of gallium lanthanum oxysulphide (Ga:La:S:O) were used to create “photonic axons and synapses”. Some of our more biologically in-the-know readers are aware that a neuron is an “electrically excitable cell that processes and transmits information through electrical and chemical signal;” a synapse allows the neuron to pass this information to another cell, and the axon is responsible for removing these electrical impulses away from the neuron’s cell body. The researchers are essentially building (or built) a proof of concept of a computer that mimics the operation of the human brain.

For good reason, as explained in the article, “compared to our biological systems, today’s computers are more than a million times less efficient. Simulating five seconds of brain activity takes 500 seconds and needs 1.4 MW of power, compared to mere calories burned by the human brain.” We’re still chasing records set by mother nature. The research team touts that GLSO fibres are a great candidate to mimic these biological processes. Their physical properties can be temporary, or permanently altered by light that acts as a neuron firing. These alterations, named ‘photodarkening,’ result in a decrease in the transmissivity of the fibres. Interestingly, the temporary changes are reversed once the light source is removed, while the ‘permanent’ changes are able to reversed via thermal annealing. The photodarkening can take place at any point across the length of the fibre, mimicking the axon’s ability to form a synaptic junction. The researchers’ paper indicates that their photonic regime “perfectly replicates […] the data transmission characteristics of the biological axon.”

I’ll leave the conclusion to Professor Soci of NTU: “This work implies that ‘cognitive’ photonic devices and networks can be effectively used to develop non-Boolean computing and decision-making paradigms that mimic brain functionalities and signal protocols, to overcome bandwidth and power bottlenecks of traditional data processing.” We’re still far away from building a computerized Mind that can run a civilization, but we’re taking steps in the general direction. When and if we do (I have my fingers crossed) we’ll likely have rare metals to thank.

Chris Wildman

References

http://www.orc.soton.ac.uk/synapse.html

Source: http://raremetalsmatter.com/minds-rare-metals/