For the scientific journal, see Natural Computing (journal).
Natural computing,[1][2] also called natural computation, is a terminology introduced to encompass three classes of methods: 1) those that take inspiration from nature for the development of novel problem-solving techniques; 2) those that are based on the use of computers to synthesize natural phenomena; and 3) those that employ natural materials (e.g., molecules) to compute. The main fields of research that compose these three branches are artificial neural networks, evolutionary algorithms, swarm intelligence, artificial immune systems, fractal geometry, artificial life, DNA computing, and quantum computing, among others.
Computational paradigms studied by natural computing are abstracted from natural phenomena as diverse as self-replication, the functioning of the brain, Darwinian evolution, group behavior, the immune system, the defining properties of life forms, cell membranes, and morphogenesis.
Besides traditional electronic hardware, these computational paradigms can be implemented on alternative physical media such as biomolecules (DNA, RNA), or trapped-ion quantum computing devices.
Dually, one can view processes occurring in nature as information processing. Such processes include self-assembly,
developmental processes, gene regulation networks, protein–protein interaction networks, biological transport (active transport, passive transport) networks, and gene assembly in unicellular organisms. Efforts to
understand biological systems also include engineering of semi-synthetic organisms, and understanding the universe itself from the point of view of information processing. Indeed, the idea was even advanced that information is more fundamental than matter or energy.
The Zuse-Fredkin thesis, dating back to the 1960s, states that the entire universe is a huge cellular automaton which continuously updates its rules.[3][4]
Recently it has been suggested that the whole universe is a quantum computer that computes its own behaviour.[5]
The universe/nature as computational mechanism is addressed by,[6] exploring nature with help the ideas of computability, and [7] studying natural processes as computations (information processing).
life, DNA computing, and quantum computing, among others. Computational paradigms studied by naturalcomputing are abstracted from natural phenomena as...
Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic...
can be computed equally efficiently with neuromorphic quantum computing. Both, traditional quantum computing and neuromorphic quantum computing are physics-based...
Unconventional computing is computing by any of a wide range of new or unusual methods. It is also known as alternative computing. The term unconventional...
Optical computing or photonic computing uses light waves produced by lasers or incoherent sources for data processing, data storage or data communication...
DNA computing is an emerging branch of unconventional computing which uses DNA, biochemistry, and molecular biology hardware, instead of the traditional...
life, DNA computing, and quantum computing, among others. Computational paradigms studied by naturalcomputing are abstracted from natural phenomena as...
digital signal processing, cloud computing, data science, ethics, law, and information security. Voice computing has become increasingly significant...
Grammars and Computing by Graph Transformation", "Handbook of Membrane Computing" (Oxford University Press), and the "Handbook of NaturalComputing" (4 volumes...
traditional hard-computing algorithms heavily rely on concrete data and mathematical models to produce solutions to problems. Soft computing was coined in...
Evolutionary computing as a field began in earnest in the 1950s and 1960s. There were several independent attempts to use the process of evolution in computing at...
augmented reality, mixed reality, natural user interface, contextual computing, affective computing, and ubiquitous computing. The usage for labeling and discussing...
"Evaluation Function (Fitness Function)". Introduction to Evolutionary Computing. NaturalComputing Series (2nd ed.). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer. p. 30. doi:10...
and databases. In the early days of computing, a number of terms for the practitioners of the field of computing were suggested in the Communications...
Washington uses this term to refer to social computing. In some countries, this term is associated with natural computation and neural computation. The Government...
quantum computing. The paper was submitted in June 1979 and published in April 1980. Yuri Manin briefly motivates the idea of quantum computing. Tommaso...
ISBN 978-3319314853. Akiba, Fuminori (2013). "Preface: NaturalComputing and Computational Aesthetics". NaturalComputing and Beyond. Proceedings in Information and...
of the analytical engine's computing unit (the mill) in 1888. He gave a successful demonstration of its use in computing tables in 1906. In his work...
computability theory include: What does it mean for a function on the natural numbers to be computable? How can noncomputable functions be classified into a hierarchy...
Semantic computing is a field of computing that combines elements of semantic analysis, natural language processing, data mining, knowledge graphs, and...
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