Fifth generation computer

The Fifth Generation Computer Systems project (FGCS) was an initiative by Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry, begun in 1982, to create a fifth generation computer which was supposed to perform much calculation using massively parallel computing/processing. It was to be the result of a massive government/industry research project in Japan during the 1980s. It aimed to create an "epoch-making computer" with-supercomputer-like performance and to provide a platform for future developments in artificial intelligence.

The term "fifth generation" was intended to convey the system as being a leap beyond existing machines. In the history of computing hardware, computers using vacuum tubes were called the first generation; transistors and diodes, the second; integrated circuits, the third; and those using microprocessors, the fourth. Whereas previous computer generations had focused on increasing the number of logic elements in a single CPU, the fifth generation, it was widely believed at the time, would instead turn to massive numbers of CPUs for added performance.

The project was to create the computer over a ten-year period, after which it was considered ended and investment in a new "sixth generation" project would began. Opinions about its outcome are divided: either it was a failure, or it was ahead of its time.

What is a fingerprint?

What is a fingerprint?
Fingerprints are an early example of biometrics, the science of identifying individuals by their physical characteristics.
There is no clear date at which fingerprinting was first used, some examples being from prehistory. However, some
significant modern dates are as follows.
1880 - Dr Henry Faulds published his first paper on the subject in the scientific journal Nature in 1880.
Returning to Britain in 1886, he offered the concept to the Metropolitan Police in London but was dismissed.
1901 - Sir Edward Richard Henry devised the Henry Classification System used in England and Wales.
1902 - Dr. Henry P. DeForrest used fingerprinting in the New York Civil Service.
There is some controversy over the uniqueness of fingerprints. Even those who accept their uniqueness sometimes
argue that the techniques used to compare fingerprints are fallible.
Fingerprint analysis (or Dactylography, a term mainly used in the US) is the science of using fingerprints to uniquely
identify someone. Humans leave behind prints of the ridges of the skin on their fingertips when handling certain
materials. The pattern of ridges is thought to be unique for each person and in practice has proved unique enough to
identify the person who left the fingerprint.
Fingerprint analysis emerged in the early 20th century, when it was the first method in forensic science for unique
identification. As a result of its early success, it acquired a mystique of infallibility. It has only recently been subjected to
systematic analysis by investigators from outside the field.
Fingerprint examiners have certainly disagreed with one another: the case of Shirley McKie was a notable case
involving fingerprints.