Natural computing

Natural computing, also called natural computation, is a terminology introduced to encompass three classes of methods: 1) those that take inspiration from nature for the development of novel problem-solving techniques; 2) those that are based on the use of computers to synthesize natural phenomena; and 3) those that employ natural materials (e.g., molecules) to compute. The main fields of research that compose these three branches are <a href="/facts/Artificial_neural_networks/6V1jMlkx">artificial neural networks</a>, <a href="/facts/Evolutionary_algorithms/bo7eHlcA">evolutionary algorithms</a>, <a href="/facts/Swarm_intelligence/fI8461G4">swarm intelligence</a>, <a href="/facts/Artificial_immune_systems/SxB3gsaB">artificial immune systems</a>, fractal geometry, <a href="/facts/Artificial_life/YcA6tvfe">artificial life</a>, <a href="/facts/DNA_computing/NfNV4obg">DNA computing</a>, and <a href="/facts/Quantum_computing/nbbcgmvq">quantum computing</a>, among others. However, the field is more related to <a href="/facts/Biological_computation/3W5slRTV">biological computation</a>.
Computational paradigms studied by natural computing are abstracted from natural phenomena as diverse as <a href="/facts/Self-replication/NbsfzT4l">self-replication</a>, the functioning of the <a href="/facts/Brain/EKla9NkJ">brain</a>, <a href="/facts/Darwinian_evolution/ojpLgHDY">Darwinian evolution</a>, <a href="/facts/Group_behavior/Jo0C0Dfa">group behavior</a>, the <a href="/facts/Immune_system/HRCTf1pb">immune system</a>, the defining properties of life forms, <a href="/facts/Cell_membranes/vAXSD0DT">cell membranes</a>, and <a href="/facts/Morphogenesis/zHJh8Eae">morphogenesis</a>. 
Besides traditional <a href="/facts/Electronic_hardware/fKcrTv2f">electronic hardware</a>, these computational paradigms can be implemented on alternative physical media such as biomolecules (DNA, RNA), or trapped-ion quantum computing devices.
Dually, one can view processes occurring in nature as information processing. Such processes include <a href="/facts/Self-assembly/HgFyhl6q">self-assembly</a>, 
<a href="/facts/Developmental_process/9dLJhCCv">developmental processes</a>, <a href="/facts/Gene_regulation/9N4G341I">gene regulation</a> networks, <a href="/facts/Protein%25E2%2580%2593protein_interaction/etvm9Wmg">protein–protein interaction</a> networks, biological transport (<a href="/facts/Active_transport/7EAcsfb2">active transport</a>, <a href="/facts/Passive_transport/pH9lfpaW">passive transport</a>) networks, and gene assembly in <a href="/facts/Unicellular_organism/9PQsRuHU">unicellular organisms</a>. Efforts to
understand biological systems also include engineering of semi-synthetic organisms, and understanding the universe itself from the point of view of information processing. Indeed, the idea was even advanced that information is more fundamental than matter or energy. 
The Zuse-Fredkin thesis, dating back to the 1960s, states that the entire universe is a huge <a href="/facts/Cellular_automaton/6gfkjKAW">cellular automaton</a> which continuously updates its rules.
Recently it has been suggested that the whole universe is a <a href="/facts/Quantum_computer/nbbcgmvq">quantum computer</a> that computes its own behaviour.
The universe/nature as computational mechanism is addressed by, exploring nature with help the ideas of computability, and studying natural processes as computations (information processing).

Natural computing open-in-new

Natural computing