Tuesday, November 7, 1995

Advanced Technology Seminar 2B: Advanced Internet Computing from the Standpoint of Life Science

Description:

As a hyper-end user, the speaker, an anatomist, would like to dissect and comment on the Internet computing from the standpoint of life science. Anatomy is a kind of morphology, which deals with the form and structure. From the visual information of the structure, we deduce non-visual information, such as the function and meaning. It is a kind of metaphysics. Thus, the speaker will analyze metaphysically the Internet computing and consider what is the advanced Internet computing.

1. What is the advanced Internet computing?

Computing unaware of using computers is possibly a kind of advanced computing. Alternatively, it is the advanced computing that we can use computers for everything. This means that we can use them even for the advanced computing. When such a computer is connected to the Internet, the Internet computing is highly accelerated.

2. Personal computing

Higher living organisms (multicellular organisms) are composed of many kinds of cells which are all intelligent and integrated into individuals. The Internet is one and only network in the world, and looks like an organism composed of a lot of computers, which are compared to cells as a minimum component of the organism. The computers, an essential part of the Internet, must be intelligent like the cells building the individual. Personal computing, making much of the computer, will highly advance the Internet computing. Therefore, personal computing, needless to say, is a very important factor in the Internet development.

3. Information exchange system is indispensable to higher organisms

Cell membrane, which seals the contents of the cell, defined the first cell. The disruption of the membrane, which acts as a barrier to keep the internal environment, leads to the cell death. The function of the membrane as a barrier is important; however, this brings difficulties in exchanging various substances and signals across the membrane. Then, information exchange systems across the membrane were developed in the cells. In the process of evolution from unicellular organisms to multicellular ones, the division of labor was adopted with the development of information exchange system among the cells. Like the evolution of the higher organisms, the Internet has been developed as an information exchange system among the intelligent computers and the division of labor in the Internet has been established as a server-client model.

4. A comparison between mankind and computer in terms of developmental history of communication

Developmental history of mankind:

Similar achievements in the developmental history of computer:

Following the same developmental processes as human's, computers are changing their pictures from a simple calculator to various tools for intellectual activities, coming close to us and accelerating our development.

5. The advanced Internet computing and JCRN

The advanced personal computing is the element of the advanced Internet computing. Behind the advanced Internet computing, there are interpersonal communications, which further accelerate human development and will bring us a great happiness in our life. We would like to take advantage of the Internet computing in our research activities. Because academic societies and associations deal with a lot of information, it is the most favorable area to realize the advanced Internet computing. So, the speaker developed a data collecting system via the Internet for the proceedings of the Japanese Association of Anatomists. The collected data is experimentally available via the Internet (URL http://www.sapmed.ac.jp/jaa.html). As an research activity in the Internet, the speaker would like to introduce JCRN (Japan Committee for Research Networks), which is a committee made up of delegates from academic societies and associations and research networks in Japan. They are all interested in computer communications. In the discussion at the committee, JPNIC (Japan Network Information Center) was established for the Internet resource distribution and maintenance in Japan in 1993. Thus, the committee is striving for enriching our intellectual activities by utilizing advanced Internet computing.