Computers from plants we never made. Speculations

We discuss possible designs and prototypes of computing systems that could be based on morphological development of roots, interaction of roots, and analog electrical computation with plants, and plant-derived electronic components. In morphological plant processors data are represented by initial configuration of roots and configurations of sources of attractants and repellents; results of computation are represented by topology of the roots' network. Computation is implemented by the roots following gradients of attractants and repellents, as well as interacting with each other. Problems solvable by plant roots, in principle, include shortest-path, minimum spanning tree, Voronoi diagram, $\alpha$-shapes, convex subdivision of concave polygons. Electrical properties of plants can be modified by loading the plants with functional nanoparticles or coating parts of plants of conductive polymers. Thus, we are in position to make living variable resistors, capacitors, operational amplifiers, multipliers, potentiometers and fixed-function generators. The electrically modified plants can implement summation, integration with respect to time, inversion, multiplication, exponentiation, logarithm, division. Mathematical and engineering problems to be solved can be represented in plant root networks of resistive or reaction elements. Developments in plant-based computing architectures will trigger emergence of a unique community of biologists, electronic engineering and computer scientists working together to produce living electronic devices which future green computers will be made of.Comment: The chapter will be published in "Inspired by Nature. Computing inspired by physics, chemistry and biology. Essays presented to Julian Miller on the occasion of his 60th birthday", Editors: Susan Stepney and Andrew Adamatzky (Springer, 2017

Why Biology is Beyond Physical Sciences?

In the framework of materialism, the major attention is to find general organizational laws stimulated by physical sciences, ignoring the uniqueness of Life. The main goal of materialism is to reduce consciousness to natural processes, which in turn can be translated into the language of math, physics and chemistry. Following this approach, scientists have made several attempts to deny the living organism of its veracity as an immortal soul, in favor of genes, molecules, atoms and so on. However, advancement in various fields of biology has repeatedly given rise to questions against such a denial and has supplied more and more evidence against the completely misleading ideological imposition that living entities are particular states of matter. In the recent past, however, the realization has arisen that cognitive nature of life at all levels has begun presenting significant challenges to the views of materialism in biology and has created a more receptive environment for the soul hypothesis. Therefore, instead of adjudicating different aprioristic claims, the development of an authentic theory of biology needs both proper scientific knowledge and the appropriate tools of philosophical analysis of life. In a recently published paper the first author of present essay made an attempt to highlight a few relevant developments supporting a sentient view of life in scientific research, which has caused a paradigm shift in our understanding of life and its origin [1]. The present essay highlights the uniqueness of biological systems that offers a considerable challenge to the mainstream materialism in biology and proposes the Vedāntic philosophical view as a viable alternative for development of a biological theory worthy of life

Charles Darwin’s final book on earthworms, 1881

This article focuses on the publication of Darwin’s final book (1881) in the context of Darwin’s larger attempts to resist the habitual anthropocentrism of human beings. It begins with Darwin’s discussion of animal cognition and the senses of worms. It concludes with his emphasis on the significant effects worm digestion has on the landscape and the fertility of the earth. The article links Darwin’s Worms Edwin Abbott’s 1884 novella Flatland, arguing that both texts are engaged in dismantling human perceptions that stem from possessing a highly visual brain, and that both throw doubt on the belief that a single objective world exists independent of particular observers.http://www.branchcollective.org/?ps_articles=anna-henchman-charles-darwins-final-book-on-earthworms-1881http://www.branchcollective.org/?ps_articles=anna-henchman-charles-darwins-final-book-on-earthworms-1881Published versio

What if plants compute?

The unexpended cognitive capacities of plants suggest the possibility of combining them with advances in computation. It is important to explore such a new field of research despite the incompleteness of the empirical support for it

The Little Book of Speculative Design for NGOs and Community Groups

This Little Book presents what Speculative Design is, what are its benefits for NGOs and Community Groups, and how it can be used by these groups in Malaysia, as well as other countries. This book is based on our research conducted for the ProtoPolicyAsia: empowering local communities and Government in Malaysia in addressing social issues in ageing and disabilities, funded by the AHRC

On the Things to Come: Philosophical Anthropology

Filozofická antropologie, nahlížena z kosmické perspektivy a na evoluční úrovni, by aktuálně měla zaměřit vědecké a racionální úvahy na možnou budoucnost našeho druhu, připravujícího se na výpravy mimo náš nejbližší okruh materiálního vesmíru. Pokroky v nanotechnologiích a bioinženýrství umožní nejen další biotechnické vylepšení „lidského živočicha“, ale i jeho existenci na jiných světech. Pokud si lidstvo udrží dynamickou integritu a zájem vyvíjet se, bude náš druh směřovat svůj vývoj více a více ze současného stavu humánního Homo sapiens k trans-humánnímu Homo futurensis a nakonec k post-humánní úrovně existence v podobě kosmické nad-bytosti. Naši potomci dokonce mohou objevit formy života vzniklé v procesu exo-evoluce, včetně inteligentních bytostí, na vnějších planetách a měsících. Vzdálené kosmické nad-bytosti mohou dokonce dosáhnout nesmrtelnosti s tím, jak budou obývat různé oblasti mezihvězdného prostoru. Jejich hodnoty, zkušenosti a světonázor budou nepochybně mimo naši představivost. Podobně jako u většiny druhů, které kdysi obývaly Zemi (včetně některých prehistorických forem hominidů), přirozené vyhynutí našeho vlastního druhu či jeho potomků vždy zůstává znepokojivou možností.Within a cosmic perspective and the evolution framework, philosophical anthropology now needs to focus its scientific and rational speculations on the possible future of our species as it prepares to venture elsewhere in this material universe. Ongoing advances in nanotechnology and bioengineering will allow for not only the further bio-technic enhancement of the human animal, but also its existence on other worlds. With both the will to evolve and dynamic integrity, our species will more and more direct its own evolution from its present human condition as Homo sapiens to a transhuman stage as Homo futurensis and, finally, to a posthuman level of existence as a cosmic-overbeing (human intervention resulting in emerging teleology). In fact, our descendants may discover life forms, including intelligent beings, on exoplanets and exomoons as a result of exoevolution. The distant cosmic-overbeings may even enjoy immortality as they inhabit different spheres among the stars; no doubt, they will have values, experiences, and a worldview far beyond our imagination. Of course, as with most of those species that had once inhabited our earth, including some prehistoric hominid forms, the natural extinction of our own genus or its descendants will always remain an alarming possibility

Overcoming the Newtonian Paradigm: The Unfinished Project of Theoretical Biology from a Schellingian Perspective

Defending Robert Rosen’s claim that in every confrontation between physics and biology it is physics that has always had to give ground, it is shown that many of the most important advances in mathematics and physics over the last two centuries have followed from Schelling’s demand for a new physics that could make the emergence of life intelligible. Consequently, while reductionism prevails in biology, many biophysicists are resolutely anti-reductionist. This history is used to identify and defend a fragmented but progressive tradition of anti-reductionist biomathematics. It is shown that the mathematicoephysico echemical morphology research program, the biosemiotics movement, and the relational biology of Rosen, although they have developed independently of each other, are built on and advance this antireductionist tradition of thought. It is suggested that understanding this history and its relationship to the broader history of post-Newtonian science could provide guidance for and justify both the integration of these strands and radically new work in post-reductionist biomathematics