Bio-neural gel pack

From Hidden Frontier

Bio-neural gel packs are a form of computer technology used by Starfleet, developed circa 2370.

The gel packs form the basis of the bio-neural circuitry, which is essentially an organic computer system. The packs contain neural fibers surrounded in a blue gel with metallic interfaces on the top and bottom. They help store more information and operate at faster speeds than isolinear circuitry.

The fibers in an individual gel pack are capable of making billions of connections, thus generating an incredibly sophisticated and responsive computing architecture. This kind of organic circuitry allows computers to "think" in very similar ways to living organisms; by using "fuzzy logic", they can effectively operate by making a 'best guess' answer to complex questions rather than working through all possible calculations. This is due in part to the inherent nature of organic neural systems to correlate chaotic patterns that yet elude the capacities of conventional hardware.

In 2377, Lieutenant Commander Robin Lefler and Lieutenant Toby Witczak replaced some of the USS Excelsior's bio-neural circuitry in the last two-thirds of the three-part episode "Enemy Unknown". According to Lefler, she didn't understand why they were invented, citing Lefler's Law #123 - "If it works perfectly, someone will redesign it." (HF 1.02 - "Enemy Unknown, Part 2")