IBM announces advances toward a computer that works like a human brain

In an era when PCs perform like supercomputers, and supercomputers carry out inhuman feats of calculation, some of the brightest minds in Silicon Valley say there are still crucial ways in which a computer can’t match the problem-solving abilities of our own brains.

But today, at a supercomputing conference in Portland, Ore., a team of scientists from IBM’s Almaden Research Lab and several other Bay Area institutions are planning to announce two developments that could one day lead to a new kind of computer — one that uses specially designed hardware and software to mimic what’s inside our heads.

By Brandon Bailey

Full Story: http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_13809715?nclick_check=1