One Step Closer To Speedier, Bootless Computers 249
CWmike writes "Physicists at the University of California at Riverside have made a breakthrough in developing a 'spin computer,' which would combine logic with nonvolatile memory, bypassing the need for computers to boot up. The advance could also lead to super-fast chips. The new transistor technology, which one lead scientist believes could become a reality in about five years, would reduce power consumption to the point where eventually computers, mobile phones and other electronic devices could remain on all the time. The breakthrough came when scientists at UC Riverside successfully injected a spinning electron into a resistor material called graphene, which is essentially a very thin layer of graphite. The graphene in this case is one-atom thick. The process is known as 'tunneling spin injection.' A lead scientist for the project said the clock speeds of chips made using tunneling spin injection would be 'thousands of times' faster than today's processors. He describes the tech as a totally new concept that 'will essentially give memory some brains.'"
Just great... (Score:1, Funny)
Does this mean my Windows machine will catch viruses before they're even released?
'will essentially give memory some brains' (Score:5, Funny)
Close, but not what I need - I need something to give my brain some memory!
All I want to know is... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:All I want to know is... (Score:1, Funny)
Do what I do : take your coffee to your workstation, earning a reputation as a guy that never stops working, even for coffee. Then surf slashdot while sipping.
Who here needs social interaction anyway?
Re:Bad summary again... (Score:5, Funny)
Much like fusion power is 10 years away, and always will be.
The Standard Perpetual Interval for fusion is 50 years. Plan accordingly. The SPI for balancing the US Federal budget is 10 years. SPI to market for all exciting new microelectronic/quantum dot/spintronic/nanomechanical/etc. systems is 5 years. Duke Nukem Forever SPI is next year.
As for me, (Score:5, Funny)
I'd settle for speedier, botless computers.
Re:Just great... (Score:4, Funny)
Well, 'spin computer' definitely sounds like a Microsoft product.
Re:One step closer to SkyNet (Score:1, Funny)
Aaaand if you played Fallout 2, you would know that a plasma rifle would melt you, a laser rifle would cut you up and a pulse rifle would vaporize you...
Re:Graphene Revolution (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Wishful thinking... (Score:5, Funny)
If history is any indicator, then the next version of every software program would then be 1000x slower.
Re:Wishful thinking... (Score:3, Funny)
Yeah, but they'll also be 1000x smarter, meaning that SpinFox will automatically mod down any messages it thinks you might disagree with - with automatically created, nursed and ripened sock puppets!
Seriously speaking, 1000x faster starts getting near the level of human brains in raw power, so it should be able to run a real artificial intelligence on it.
Re:Wishful thinking... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Graphene Revolution (Score:4, Funny)
you probably need to rethink your spending priorities.
Hmm. Two pints of beer or electricity for a device I'm not using. Tough call. (Anyway, not all of the computers I run are "modern devices").
Re:Just great... (Score:3, Funny)
Perhaps this means our machines will get selective memory, just like us
ERROR: This Couldn't Possibly Matter
Alert: Christmas is coming, loading "It's A Wonderful Life", analyzing, transferring funds to a poor banker
Re:Wishful thinking... (Score:5, Funny)
For Windows, I take it the known-good state is the Off state?
Re:Wishful thinking... (Score:3, Funny)
Well, supposedly consciousness will emerge on its own once enough complexity is introduced, so it's just a matter of jamming as much complexity down in there as we can. Maybe an entire copy of the business logic of all the world's health insurance and financial companies would do the trick. :-)
Now as to whether the consciousness will have a will, or be a passive observer, that's a better question (neglecting the tenable argument that will is an illusion.) Creating consciousness won't be very interesting to us out here if all it does is treat us as an entertaining TV show. Besides, there are far simpler ways to create coach potatoes.