Random/Chaotic Computer Architecture

Factual Questions
1

I’m going to have trouble formulating this question, which is why I’m having no luck with the search engines.

A while back I saw some Discovery Channel type show about a group that had put together a computer with tonnes of old (majority inoperable) circuits and chips. Many alternate pathways existed to maneuvre around dead circuits. Basicly, I guess, the OS set up the computer by finding working pathways.

The boast at the end was that if we made a gel filled with mini-circuits and mini-chips we could put computers anywhere. We’d rely on the software to make it a working computer once the gel dried.

So I guess my actual question is simple: Anyone else ever hear of this? Is it old news?

2

It sounds like you saw a show about Neural Networks.
Google, who is your friend, turns up tons of stuff on the subject. People have been trying to figure out how to build the sort of fault tolerant systems you describe for years. So far, it’s been slow going.