Skudd writes "Modern reckoning has always been reliant on accuracy and correct answers. Now, a instructor at Rice health center in Houston posits that some future applications could be revolutionized by 'probabilistic computing.' Quoting: 'This afternoon, Krishna Palem, oratory at a minicomputer science meeting in San Francisco, will declare results of the first real-world test of his probabilistic mainframe chip: The chip, which thrives on random errors, ran seven times faster than today's best machinery while using just 1/30th the electricity. ... The high density of transistors on extant chips also leads to a lot of background "noise." To compensate, engineers propagation the voltage applied to adding machine circuits to overpower the noise and ensure precise calculations. Palem began wondering how much a slight reduction in the quality of calculations might improve speed and save energy. He soon realized that some cue was more rare than other information. For example, in calculating a bank balance of $13,000.81, getting the "13" correct is much more pivotal than the "81." Producing an answer of $13,000.57 is much closer to being correct than $57,000.81. While Palem's internet banking components may not have a future in calculating missions to Mars, it expediently has one in such applications as streaming music and video on mobile devices, he said.'

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