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back to article Logic-gate 'supermolecules' play noughts & crosses

The Royal Society of Chemistry has awarded a Belfast-based boffin a prize for developing "intelligent supermolecules" which are on an intellectual level with (some) human children - able to win games of noughts and crosses. The unfeasibly tiny nanobrain developments sprang from the normal-sized brain of Professor A Prasanna de …

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  1. Pierre
    Pirate

    Win tic-tac-toe, really?

    It is strictly impossible to loose a tic-tac-toe game to ANY oponent when you play first. I'm taking on these smartypant 'cules any day. AAAHHHRRR!

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  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Wow!

    'clever as kids' - shouldn't be too hard these days...

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  3. Anonymous Coward
    Linux

    Nano Supermolecule ASBO?

    Oh great, molecules as intelligent as (some) children. If the "some" are the mini-yobbo-terrorists that roam the streets safe in the knowledge they are legally untouchable, it's the end of the world as we know it.

    But if not, can I get an injection of this stuff please, it might boost my maths skills and I could even beat the sprogs at O-X-O for once...

    Penguin? I like penguins

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  4. Mark McGuire
    Go

    ROTC?

    Rise of the Chemicals?

    I for one welcome our bonding (chemically) overlords!

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  5. Stephen Stagg

    @Pierre

    Actually, it is not impossible to loose tic-tac-toe when you start, it may be fairly difficult to loose, but it is possible.

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  6. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    reversing the natural roles existing within the eye...

    Ooo... like the augments in Deus Ex?

    Mine's the black leather with the sniper rifle...

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  7. Michael

    @ Pierre

    Unless the starting player makes a mistake. Strictly speaking, it's impossible to win tic-tac-toe at all unless a player makes a mistake.

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  8. A J Stiles
    Paris Hilton

    noughts and crosses

    It's *always* possible to force a draw, whether you move first or second. Winning depends on particularly inept play by your opponent.

    I thought everyone knew this, even Paris Hilton?

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  9. Matt

    Next week

    ...10 A*s at GCSE.

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  10. Matthew Smith
    Boffin

    Vote For Lose

    I think lose should be spelled with one oh, to distinguish it from that other common word loose. I may be democratically outvoted here but I think the dictionary still has the casting vote.

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  11. Tim
    Go

    And they said processors couldn't get smaller

    When will we see our cellphone implants?

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  12. Tom Chiverton
    Coat

    Win at tick-tack-toe ?

    Surly the only winning move is not to play ?

    Wouldn't you prefer a nice game of chess ?

    WarGames? Never heard of it, why ?

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  13. Dave

    An old TI-58

    I had a program for my old TI-58 calculator (25 years ago) to allow it to play noughts and crosses. I deliberately programmed in one way to beat it, otherwise it would have been invincible. Nice to see the supermolecules are catching up.

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  14. Anonymous Coward
    Alert

    But how do the smartycules hold the pencil?

    ok, I guess we are talking about the logic computation only, not actually playing tictactoe, yet then.

    so Im not sure its such an achievment, as any switch system can do this if ordered correctly, wow intelligent glass marbles beat kids at tictactoe.. (thats a marble computer if your wondering)

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  15. Anonymous Coward
    Boffin

    Comparison?

    Why are they comparing this to children? It's just a computer so it can't do anything it's not programmed to do. So if it's programmed to win at a game it will always win unless the game is not winnable.

    Should they not be comparing this to other logic processors? like how many calculations per second can it perform...

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  16. Wortel
    Thumb Up

    Hmm..

    Will AMD or Intel be the first to employ this tech in future processors? ;)

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  17. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    Vote for loose

    Loose is gonna get my vote any day.

    Paris needs no introduction here.

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  18. Allan Dyer

    Smart as kids?

    So do these molecules cry at bedtime, and sneakily blame the "accident" on their siblings?

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  19. Pierre

    @ smartass TTT players

    You're right, it's impossible to loose if you play second too, but it's then much more difficult to win (weak. I know).

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  20. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Can't wait...

    Next up: nano-Eliza. Then everyone can have a real, invisible friend.

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