Blobotics is a term describing research into chemical based computer processors based on ions rather than electrons. Andrew Adamatzky, a computer scientist at the University of the West of England

University of the West of England

The University of the West of England is a university based in the English city of Bristol. Its main campus is at Frenchay, about five miles north of the city centre...

 in Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

 used the term in an article in New Scientist

New Scientist

New Scientist is a weekly non-peer-reviewed English-language international science magazine, which since 1996 has also run a website, covering recent developments in science and technology for a general audience. Founded in 1956, it is published by Reed Business Information Ltd, a subsidiary of...

 March 28, 2005 http://www.newscientist.com/channel/fundamentals/mg18524921.000-introducing-the-glooper-computer.html.

The aim is to create 'liquid logic gates' which would be 'infinitely reconfigurable and self-healing'. The process relies on the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction

Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction

A Belousov–Zhabotinsky reaction, or BZ reaction, is one of a class of reactions that serve as a classical example of non-equilibrium thermodynamics, resulting in the establishment of a nonlinear chemical oscillator. The only common element in these oscillating systems is the inclusion of bromine...

, a repeating cycle of three separate sets of reactions. Such a processor could form the basis of a robot

Robot

A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...

 which, using artificial sensors, interact with its surroundings in a way which mimics living creatures.

The coining of the term was featured by ABC radio

ABC Radio

Cumulus Media Networks is an American radio network owned and operated by Cumulus Media. it controlled many of the assets of the former ABC Radio Networks, which Citadel Broadcasting purchased in June 2007...

 in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

http://www.abc.net.au/newsradio/txt/s1363466.htm.

External links

• Andy Adamatzky Homepage at the University of the West of England, Bristol