MUSHROOM MACHINES

Previously on these pages we’ve looked at advances in quantum computing and the use of carbon nanotubes to build processors. This month we’re stepping further off the path of the conventional than ever before. Yes, we’re going to Bristol.

The University of the West of England will teach you a degree course in anything from accountancy to ecology, but is also home to the Center for Unconventional Computing and its professor. The single photograph that features on the center’s website features a toilet roll, a headless skeleton, a fume cupboard, a mechanic’s toolset, oscilloscopes and, disappointingly,