Natural
Computing is an emerging multi-disciplinary field with two different faces. Its
scientific side studies natural phenomena as computational systems and uses
information theory and other concepts from computer science to explain these.
Its engineering side uses insights gained from such studies to develop better
solutions to information processing problems. Often this means to imitate
natural processes or even to directly use natural components. Well-known examples
of this include Molecular Computing, Neural Networks, and Genetic Algorithms.
This
talk will give a brief overview of this fascinating multifaceted field and will
illustrate its engineering side with examples of bio- hardware (DNA Computation)
and bio-inspired software (Ant ColonyAlgorithms).
