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Atomic Scale Memory

Posted by michael on from the quarks-coming-next dept.

maddugan writes "Technology Research News is reporting that researchers from the University of Wisconsin at Madison have put the theoretical to the test by using single silicon atoms to represent the 1s and 0s of computing. This is equivalent to storing the contents of 7,800 DVDs in one square inch of material."

6 of 251 comments (clear)

  1. Re:PREDICTION by Stephen+VanDahm · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A better prediction would be that there will soon be 20 posts about how this new technology will allow folks to enlarge their pr0n collections by a factor of 10,000. I'll bet they're rolling in even as I type.

    Steve

  2. Other Equivalencies by jstockdale · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...equivalent to storing the contents of 7,800 DVDs...

    Also, you could store the contents of:

    149 200GB Fluid Bearing WD HDDs

    45850 CDs

    116400 256MB Flash Memory Cards

    298000 Zip Disks

    931300 32MB Memory Sticks

    OR!!! 20696000 1.44MB Floppies

    No offence guys, but come on. Post meaningful figures.

    Its actually 250 trillion bits per square inch.

    28.42 TB per square inch.

    Now thats impressive.

    --
    **AA: a bunch of mindless jerks who'll be the first against the wall when the revolution comes
  3. Re:No magnets? What about costs? by John+Hasler · · Score: 5, Insightful


    First off, if this is widely used, won't this
    be expensive?

    A small fraction of a cents in gold per 1000 terabytes. Your computer already has much more gold in it than one of these would require.

    I realize that these are gold MOLECULES,

    Gold ATOMS.

    --
    Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
  4. Re:Think of the mpeg2 quality. by Drishmung · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Parkinson's Law: Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion

    Parkinson's Law of Data: Data expands to fill the space available for storage

    Asimov's corollary to Parkinson's Law of data: Backlog expands to overfill planned extensions.

    I'm sure we'll find a way to use it...

    --
    Protoplasm. Quiet Protoplasm. I like quiet protoplasm.
  5. Re:Eh? by sconeu · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Atomic scale \b{is} essentially a vacuum. It's the same size as or smaller than any potential nasty air molecules!

    --
    General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
  6. Re:Eh? by jo-do-cus · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This isn't actually very useful : what we want is atomic scale logic gates, not data storage.

    This reminds me a bit of what they said to one of my ancestors, when he invented the wheel: "what good is that? What we REALLY need is something to fly, this 'riding' thing is just too slow and way too bumpy. Besides, where do you want to go anyway?"

    It's this kind of mindless (an really cheap) new-idea-bashing that really irritates me...