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See the original image at msnbc.msn.com —

Living computers solve complex math puzzle

msnbc.msn.com — The mathematical problem imagines pancakes of varying sizes stacked in random order — each with a burnt side and a golden brown side. The solution requires using the minimum number of manipulations to stack the pancakes according to size, with their burnt sides all facedown. Each manipulation involves flipping one or more pancakes

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  • petsheep, on 06/02/2008, -1/+6"Using genetically tweaked E. coli bacteria to create simple computers ...the flipping process is known as sorting by reversals and is the sort of challenge whose complexity increases dramatically with every added "pancake"...“If you imagine that a forward orientation is a 1 and a backward orientation is a 0,” Haynes said, “then you’ve got binary code”, the basis of computer data-encoding. But because Hin invertase scrambles DNA at random, researchers interested in encoding a meaningful array of informational bits would need to exercise far more control over how the fragments are flipped and in what order." .... some very interesting science, the pancake imagery makes it a little more understandable
  • reisrocks, on 06/03/2008, -2/+4duplicate
  • Cabose, on 06/03/2008, -1/+25Mmm, pancakes
    • ElbertF, on 06/03/2008, -0/+2Burned pancakes.
      • Canadian0207, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1but what if i ate the pancakes? do they account for that in the algorithm?
  • bigrat2, on 06/03/2008, -1/+3This was on the front page some time last week. Buried.
  • peterjmag, on 06/03/2008, -0/+8And then, after 10 million years of calculation, the living computers were suddenly--and rather unfortunately--destroyed a mere five minutes before completion by a Vogon constructor fleet in order to make way for a hyperspatial express route.
  • AndrewDB, on 06/03/2008, -2/+6I'm always in the mood for pancakes, but, I don't like duplicates:

    http://digg.com/general_sciences/Living_Bacteria_R ...
  • KingGorilla, on 06/03/2008, -1/+1Only two pancakes? I eat more than that for dinner!
  • drewniverse, on 06/03/2008, -2/+3Buried.. Thanks for the duplicates.
  • moleeyes, on 06/03/2008, -2/+3Buried for duplicate.
  • ysss, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1Let's see how the e.colis deal with subjects that they cannot contaminate before congratulating them, shall we?
  • Philbert, on 06/03/2008, -0/+2The irony comes when they start it running Folding@Home
  • simonnnomis, on 06/03/2008, -1/+1Mmm, emergence.
  • takatoo, on 06/03/2008, -2/+2bacteria do duplicate
  • Razyael, on 06/03/2008, -2/+1As it turns out the answer really was 42.
  • anliath, on 06/03/2008, -1/+1E coli are gansters
  • gavin422, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1I wouldn't call the two-pancake problem very "complex".
  • vipertech, on 06/03/2008, -0/+0Doesn't this remind anyone about that movie (i think it was called) Existence. It was about a game inside of a game and they used Biopods to plug into peoples backs to play a video game.

    One step closer I guess.. creepy
  • theforrester, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1That reminds me, when is Connor Chronicles coming back to TV. Great show.
  • jguasch, on 06/03/2008, -0/+0If you have to eat them, don't manipulate them!
  • lukeyd2006, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1I wonder if they can calculate a better alogrithm for blocking out duplicates...
  • datastorageguy, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1I will be impressed when a computer decides it likes pancakes.
  • clownx, on 06/03/2008, -0/+1Why are we making living computers? I want more power, like any self-respecting geek, but living computers? Have these people seen any "Robocalypse" (e.g. The Matrix, The Terminator, iRobot) movies? I thought we, as a society, had resolved to not let this happen!
  • davidhallstrom, on 06/04/2008, -0/+1Very interesting. Thank you.
  • geobay, on 06/06/2008, -0/+1Well...my mother would solve the burnt pancake problem by telling us to shut up and eat them.

    It worked every time.
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