An unprecedented and multidisciplinary group of world-renowned scientists will gather this week in Santa Fe looking far into the future for the most promising ideas about what computers and computing may be like many decades from now.
Looking beyond today's computing environments is the focus of "Unconventional Computation: Quo Vadis?" a conference sponsored by Los Alamos National Laboratory's Center for Nonlinear Studies and Computer and Computational Sciences Division, and the Santa Fe Institute (http://www.santafe.edu). Quo vadis is a Latin phrase meaning, "Where are we headed?
Interested members of the news media are invited to attend. A list of invited speakers, the conference agenda, and other information is available at http://cnls.lanl.gov/uc07 online.
The conference, which takes place March 21-23 at La Fonda Hotel, brings together scientists who work in the broad field of unconventional computation, doing research at the interface between computer science, physics, material science, nanotechnology, neuroscience, and biology.
Despite a steady flow of new challenges and an aging bundle of old ones, the fundamentals of computer science remain basically unchanged since the field's earliest days 60 years ago. Without disruptive new technologies, even the near future's ever-increasing computing performance and storage capacity will eventually hit a ceiling. Conference attendees will address the increasing need to explore novel computing paradigms and machines in order to maintain the current pace of progress.
Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, a team composed of Bechtel National, the University of California, The Babcock & Wilcox Company, and Washington Group International for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.
Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health, and global security concerns.