PORTLAND, Ore. — Like a Manhattan Project, resources are coming together for the big push to simulate the human brain. Personnel on European Union (EU)’s Human Brain Project reported their progress toward the primary directive — an artificial brain by 2023 — at the annual HBP Summit at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, yesterday, September 29.
The 10-year-long Human Brain Project, funded to the tune of $1 billion euro (US$1.3 billion) by the European Commission Future and Emerging Technologies as one of its “Flagship Programs,” aims to simulate the entire human brain on supercomputers first, then build a special hardware emulator that will reproduce its functions so accurately that diseases and their cures can be tried out on it. Ultimately, the long-term goal is to build artificial brains that are inexpensive enough to outperform traditional von Neuman supercomputers at a fraction of the cost.
The gist of the first year’s report is that all the pieces are assembled — all personal are hired, laboratories throughout the region engaged, and the information and communications (ICT) is in place to allow the researchers and their more than 100 academic and corporate partners in more than 20 countries to effectively collaborate and share data. Already begun are projects that reconstruct the brain’s functioning at several different biological scales, the analysis of clinical data of diseases of the brain, and the development of computing systems inspired by the brain.
The agenda for the first two and a half years (the ramp-up phase) has also been set whereby the HBP will amass all known strategic data about brain functioning, develop theoretical frameworks that fit that data, and develop the necessary infrastructure for developing six ICT platforms during the following “operational” phase circa 2017.
The six ICT platforms will consist of: the main Neuroinformatics data repository housing the Brain Atlas; the Brain Simulation platform where simulation algorithms of the various brain components will be assembled; the Medical Informatics platform cataloging diseases of the brain; the Neuromorphic Computing platform that mimics the various functions of the brain; and the Neurorobotics platform which supports testing brain models and simulations in virtual environments. High-performance computing (supercomputers) will serve all platform builders.
A few of the highlights in progress during its first year included a brain simulation technique originally proven for the neocortex successfully repurposed for the cerebellum. A neurorobotics prototype virtual room where brain models can be equipped with virtual bodies to study their behavior and cognitive abilities. The successfully retrofitting of a high-performance computer (HPC) for interactive-supercomputing which will be essential to testing brain models. Several new neuromorphic chip demonstrations testing them on solving modern computing challenges that only humans excel at today. And the amassing of the highest resolution to-date 3D cellular level data for the Human Brain Atlas.
To find out about all their claimed accomplishments during the first year read the publicly available HBP Achievements — Year One document, which also includes a discussion of the ethical, legal, and social implications of electronic brains.
— R. Colin Johnson, Advanced Technology Editor, EE Times 
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I am going to have to dig out my copy of "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" and reread it. Throwing this much hardware at replicating the functionality of a few pounds of biology is a reminder of how far we still have to go to understand ourselves, much less the universe. The good news might be that we are on the way to actually getting that understanding. It is also somewhat comforting that I will be retired by then and won't have to compete with Hal for Engineering jobs...
Larry M.