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Magnetic Computing Takes a Step Forward
MaceyHW writes "PhysOrg.com reports a big step forward in the development of magnetic microchips. Since their initial creation of a magnetic logic gate in 2002, an international team of researchers from Durham University, Imperial College, London and the University of Sheffield 'team has created a number of further "logic gates" and created interconnecting structures using magnetic "nanowires," which can now reproduce the logic functions of a conventional computer.'"
You mean like the kind of magnetic computing that's easily destroyed by a fridge magnet or unshielded set of speakers?
Is this really a move forward?
..when we've already got a laptop powered by a 6,8 GHz quantum optical processor with 1 TB of NvlOpRAM?
Does this mean we'll eventually have computers we can stick to the fridge?
Civilization, the death of dreams.
I didn't see anything in the article about clocking speeds (if, indeed this type of technology is clocked - I guess so?) - any ideas?
I'll have to find that old bubble core magnetic memory I stuck up in the attic some years ago - it might come in useful!
AT&ROFLMAO
Scientist at the Cave of Ogg have discovered that wood may be able to be used a source of fire. Following hot on the heels of their previous breakthroughs with the ignition of fire, Ogg and Gor have discovered that fire is held in a solid state in certain types of wood. By transferring an existing fire to a piece of wood is said to "unlock" the fire within the wood and set it ablaze. Ogg's spokesman said that study will continue to find the exact amount of fire held within the various types of wood available near the Cave.
Seriously? Magnets?
Jesus saved me from my past. He can save you as well.
The article sort of mumbled through why I should care. Does anyone know? Do these logic gates offer the promise of smaller, faster, cheaper, or lower-power CPUs? Some combination of the above? Do they allow the creation of computers of a type not practical before? Where's the beef?
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It would be nice if we had magnetic disks. North or South corresponds to 0 or 1.
"This would also imply that the computers being economical would become still more disposable. 'This means that they could be used for cheap and therefore disposable simple computers in the future.'"
Why is this a feature? We've already shown ourselves how wonderful "displosable" technology really is. Why do we think we need more useless broken garbage? How reclaimable is it? Can we just throw a bunch of these into a pot, separate the various metals and cook up new ones when the technology improves? Disposable != Economical. You have to have an economy before you can throw it in the garbage.
"Don't feel bad for me child; I'm the monster that hides under your bed."
... is the picture !
Hello Core Memory...
Seriously core memory was magnetic and was first thing I thought of when I read the headline.
In what way is this an international team? All three universities are in the same country.
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I'm guessing one of those computers won't have floppy drives.
2. It seems like magneticism is somewhat harder to contain than electricity, even though they're the same thing. What I mean is that we heard about leakage in processors as we get smaller and smaller dies. How is interference from other units controlled/mitigated in these chips?
I am definitely NOT a physicists so these question might sound lame but this is the first time I've heard of these chips and the article don't say much. Maybe I'm getting way ahead right now. New computational technology is always very cool, which I hope these chips are in the literal sense as well.
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Hmmmm, what if it is used to close to a harddrive, instant formats? Maybe we need those kind of fields soon to replace our magnetic earth field that shields us from the raging solar storms.... And if our magnetic field switches someday all zero's become one's and all one's become zero's, eat your heart out millenium bug!
I was a stranger for the thing, i wasn't facing the crowd, ive been riding on empty with my head in the clouds
I for one welcome our new Magnetic Overlords! The day of their coming shall be signaled by The Day Of The Great Field Inversion when our Evil Bird Overlords shall fall from the sky in confusion. SO IT IS WRITTEN!
Regards, Phil
I was wondering about this whole electro-magnetic relationship and cell phones. I've already proven to my IT department that I can shut down my |)ell computer by calling my LG phone(GSM)that rests on top of my computer. I wonder what the EMR from the same phone would do to a magnetic based logic......
%ltbest yoda hum hrrrrmmmmm....
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I have, erm, sources connected to this story.
Basically, don't expect miracles. The signals can travel incredibly fast through these devices (can't remember exact figures) but there are problems. The signals are driven by an external magnetic field. Single magnetic pulse can drive high speed data transmission, but not normally operation of the circuit. Continuous operation would likely be in the 10s of kHZ to 1s of MHz range.
The main uses are in low power, low demand devices. Or in systems which need to be resistant to EM radiation (certain military interest there).
Similarities to core memory? Basically that's MRAM. And chips of MRAM up to about several hundred kb can now be mass produced.
But as for "they have made a computer" - we're not talking Pentiums. We're talking about having demonstrated the functions which compose such chips - NOT, AND, OR and signal combination and splitting. Nothing more.
Would storing these processors boxed and next to each other, stacked and so on... cause damage to them? what about other components? Any type of foil shield that would prevent this?
Just a thought
Can anyone clue me in to the background of this Physorg? That article is extremely poor, and I'm just wondering if it's a typical sucky blog, or if the article was originally written in a language other than English, or what.
I know this old guy who still uses a 286 with a big stack of floppies. I can now tell him that magnetic computing is the wave of the future. I'll even offer to ugrade him by passing an Edmund Scientific monster magnet over all of his floppies.
From TFA: "This means that they could be used for cheap..."
Baby Chicks now will have the computing power of a Beowulf cluster of Crays! Cheap Cheap Cheap!!
Does anyone know which companies are slated or working to develop this technology commercially?
Yes, it was rather vague. A quick search with google turned up a more detailed report on their earlier work:( I used "bug me not" to login to read it
Just to give the flavour of this report, it states...
I need to get the keys to the car on the computer.
>1% marketshare
Doesn't Windows also have >1% of the marketshare?
Bringing us ever closer to a world full of disposable junk!
If you want a vision of the future, imagine a youtube comments section scrolling - forever.
Non-heating CPU's! That's excellent. Nice to hear it.
So, magnetic logic gates? Great.
.The team is working in the rapidly growing field of nanotechnology, harnessing the magnetic properties of electrons, rather than their electrical charge on which conventional electronics is based. Nanotechnology involves working with materials at an extremely microscopic level. A nanometre is one thousand millionth of a metre - about the width of five atoms.This harnessing the capability of magnetic properties of electrons[1] could mean a sea-change in the field of electronics. "
What about power? I seem to recall that one of the problems with magnetic microprocessors is that when you shut off the power, you lose your data...
Not mentioned in TFA.
On the plus side, no heat generation = no fans = much less noise.
But, we know this research is cutting edge and inherently valuable, because:
"This use of magnetism, rather than that of electricity has potential of being exploited further
It's Nanotech!!!111
It deserves more venture capital funding! Here's some contact info for the research group so you too can invest your savings!
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
The method referenced is called "magnetic domain-wall logic". It works by propagating domain walls in small ferromagnetic wires. They have demonstrated various logic elements. Unfortunately, the domain-wall propagation is powered by immersing the circuit into a rotating or alternating magnetic field. This requires bulky external coils, rotating the IC itself inside a permanent magnet, or rotating a permanent magnet around the IC.
In the demonstrations, field frequency is measured in the tens of Hertz. I could not find a reference to the propagation velocity, but one wire width per cycle would be a reasonable guess. In short, horribly slow.
This technology seems to me to open as many unique exciting possibilities as when semiconductor technology first emerged. First of all, if you actually RTFA, these microchips generate no heat, which also suggests that they are very low power. Remember, not every microchip in the world today is your over clocked dual core Athlon 64, but rather are useful things like stepper motor controllers and what not. The fact is, this may allow an alternative method to make some of the thousands of silicon based components used in devices today cheaper or more efficient for use. Any new approach is always good for the technological community assuming it even has the potential for any benefits.
Also, I fail to see where the susceptibility of such devices to external magnetic fields would be any more exaggerated than those of devices employing electrical circuits, and dare I say that these devices may not be susceptible to "unacceptable" issues with silicon devices like ESD? Try waving a magnet over some parts of your motherboard or power supply when its in use at close range, but do so at your own risk.
No uranium in it, but still I bet you that Homer Simpson could induce a nuclear meltdown in this thing if you leave him locked in it for 5 minutes.
If it's magnetic logic on an IC, that's something new, yes. The basic idea, is not.
This comment is as useless as the article. It gives nothing of true relevance. Kinda reminds me of that character in Monkey Island who wanted "something that will atract attention, but have no real importance".
Now to be in the real spirit of Slashdot, mod me insightfull.
in any way like mini electromagnetic relays like in the earliest
computers?
I don't think I understood the article fully. Can anyone simplify
differently?
Bender is using the very same technology.
Let's forget about those killer fridge magnets for a moment. The future is here.
Turn in on then duck to avoid the barrage of low flying paperclips & staples flying towards you.
To err is human. To forgive is not company policy.
This ist the first post that actually contains information, please mod up!
n/t
They're talking about using the electron's spin instead of its charge. It's the philosopher's stone for computing.
Yeah, I agree, the physorg article is hideous. But if what it says is true, then spintronics research has taken a gigantic step.
http://scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?chanID=s a006&colID=1&articleID=0002CE79-C967-12DB-88228341 4B7F0000
The article talks about a type of harware based on magnetism that allows the hardware to be reprogrammed.
Another interesting point about this new type of hardware is that it does not need a clock.
That's one of the funniest things I've read in a long time in response to new technology. I'd mod you up +1,000 Funny but today's not my day for it.
/. staple comment???
Witness the potential birth of a new
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
Dude, imagine a beowu... *ZOT!*
This copypasted text has been seen in only about every article. Please invent something original.
Everyone who makes generalizations should be shot.
I found a related paper:
N OT.pdf
http://www.physics.mcgill.ca/~peter/publications/
All the original papers from the group mentioned in the article are too pricey.
Unfortunately I can't make neither heads nor tails out of this, somebody care to explain?
Have fun!
Je me souviens.
really strong ones. Find an unneeded hard and take it apart.
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