S COMPUTING

ver the next few decades, two emerg-ing technologies—microfabrication and cellular engineering—will make it possible to assemble systems incorpo-rating myriads of information-processing units at almost no cost, provided all units need not work correctly and that there is no need to manufacture precise geo-metrical arrangements among them. The shift to this technology will precipitate fundamental changes in methods for constructing and program-ming computers, and in our view computation itself. Microelectronic mechanical components have become so inexpensive to manufacture we can antic-ipate integrating logic circuits, microsensors, actua-tors, and communications devices on the same chip to produce particles that could be mixed with bulk materials, such as paints, gels, and concrete. Imagine coating bridges and buildings with smart paint that senses and reports on traffic and wind loads and mon-itors structural integrity. A smart-paint coating on a wall could sense vibrations, monitor the premises for intruders, and cancel noise. Even more striking is the amazing progress in understanding the biochemical mechanisms in indi-vidual cells, promising that we’ll be able to harness these mechanisms to construct digital logic circuits. AMORPHOUS For coherent behavior from vast numbers of unreliable microsensors, actuators, and communication devices interconnected in unknown ways, apply the lessons of cellular cooperation in biological organisms