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A positronic brain is a fictional technological device, originally conceived by science fiction writer Isaac Asimov. Its role is to serve as a central computer for a robot, and, in some unspecified way, to provide it with a form of consciousness recognisable to humans. When Asimov wrote his first robot stories in 1939/ 1940, the positron was a newly discovered particle and so the buzz word positronic, coined by analogy with electronic, added a contemporary gloss of popular science to the concept.Asimov remained vague about the technical details except to assert that the brain's substructure was formed from an alloy of platinum and iridium. Asimov relied on the reader's knowledge of the capacity of positrons and electrons to be formed in pairs and to annihilate each other, in order to convey the impression that such pair creation and destruction could serve as a metaphor for the evanescence of thought. The focus of Asimov's stories was directed more towards the software of robots (such as the Three Laws of Robotics) than the hardware in which it was implemented.
In the robot era's final days, SpacerIn Isaac Asimov's Foundation/ Empire/ Robot series, the Spacers were the first humans to emigrate to space. About a millennium thereafter, they severed politicial ties with Earth, and embraced low population growth as a means for high standard of living, roboticist Gubber Anshaw invented the gravitonic brain. It offered speed and capacity improvements over traditional positronic designs, but the strong influence of tradition made robotics labs reject Anshaw's work. (It is tempting to speculate that Roger MacBride AllenRoger MacBride Allen (born September 26, 1957) is a US science fiction author. He was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut and has written: The Torch of Honor ( 1985) Rogue Powers ( 1986) Farside Cannon ( 1989) The Ring of Charon ( 1990) Orphan of Creation ( 1, in whose CalibanIsaac Asimov's Caliban ( 1993) is a science fiction novel by Roger MacBride Allen, set in Isaac Asimov's Robots/ Empire/ Foundation universe. This series deals with a new type of robots who do not have the Three Laws of Robotics. The Three Laws are integr trilogy Anshaw appears, invented the word "gravitonic" the same way Asimov invented the original, perhaps as a deliberate homage.) Only one roboticist, Fredda Leving, chose to adopt gravitonics, because it offered her a blank slate on which she could explore alternatives to the Three Laws. Because they were not dependent upon centuries of earlier research, gravitonic brains could be programmed with the standard Laws, variations of the Laws, or even empty pathways which specify no Laws at all.
1 Star Trek
The fictional characters Lieutenant Commander DataBrent Spiner as Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation Data played by Brent Spiner, is a character in the Star Trek fictional universe. He has served as the second officer and operations manager on the USS Enterprise D and USS Enterprise E. Data appeared, his eldest brother B-4B-4 is fictional character of the science fiction universe of Star Trek. B4 was first seen in the movie Star Trek: Nemesis''. He is a Soong-type android (named after Dr. Noonien Soong, their creator), supposedly created as a prototype before Lore and Data, his "mother" Julianna Soong Tainer , and his evil brother LoreIn the fictional Star Trek universe, Lore is the name of a prototype for the android Data, often referred to as his evil brother' and was played by the same actor: Brent Spiner. Lore was built on Omicron Theta after B-4, but before Data, by Dr. Noonien So from the Star TrekStar Trek collectively refers to six science fiction television series, ten motion pictures, and hundreds of novels, video games, and other works of fiction all set within the same fictional universe created by Gene Roddenberry in the early to mid 1960s. series The Next Generation, were androids equipped with positronic brains. In one episode Data creates an offspring named Lal with a similar but somewhat more sophisticated brain. After a short time she displays promising advances in emotion and other human behaviours that Data has not been able to master. Sadly, she died of a "rapid positronic cascade failure" shortly after she had been told that Starfleet wanted to separate her from Data.
None of these androids were constrained by Asimov's robot laws, although Data's actions were restricted by ethical programming provided by his creator, Dr. Noonien Soong.
