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Gecko's Feet Power New RAM Chips
An anonymous reader writes "IT Week has a story about carbon nanotubes being used to make memory chips. As the name suggests, carbon nanotubes are extremely small cylinders of carbon, and they have some similar properties to the extremely fine hairs on the feet of Geckos that enable the lizards to climb walls and hang from ceilings. The new chips work faster than current technologies, and hold their data without needing a power source." We've previously discussed this technology.
This article could more aptly be titled, "New technology happens to reflect Gecko trait."
My work here is dung.
...I just saved a bunch of money on my car ins...RAM Chips.
http://teasphere.wordpress.com - A little spot of tea
This is nothing new at all
I'll grant you that yes, prices have come down recently but surely every geek wants our scientific research budgets spent on a much worthier use for nanotubes.
Hunni could you get the RAM off the ceiling again please!!
According to TFA they'll be shipping "later this year".
This seems somewhat unlikely, but would be cool if it was true. High speed USB pendrive anyone?
Little short on technical detail though. How many read-write cycles can these things do?
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http://www.jarfinder.com/
Never trust anyone with an id greater than 889388
We had been covering Nantero for a long time on slashdot:
Carbon Nanotube Memory on the Way
Nanotube Non-Volatile Memory Entering Production
Nanotube Applications Grow And Grow (mentions about NVRAM)
Buckminsterfullerene Strikes Again - Nanotube RAM
If you RTFA, you'll see that the "gecko phenomenon" is the basis for the device's retention of memory when the power is off. The bits are encoded by whether the tubules are erect (open circuit) or bent-over and touching the substrate (closed circuit). When the power is removed, the same van der Waals forces that underpin gecko toes keeps the fiber in the down position.
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
I for one welcome our new RAM-wielding opressive and tyrannical gecko overlords.
to say that the "The bits ... encoded by whether the tubules are erect (open circuit) or bent-over" are based on Viagra.
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
Actually they mean that Gecko's memory footprint is so large that you'll need to buy new RAM chips. :-)
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
"Chameleo-browser" - A new plugin for firefox which will allow porn pages, when seen from a distance to blend in with spreadsheets and become unnoticable.
** Note - In response to these advances the LOST (Lizard Open Source Team) has chosen to patent their genetic makeup to prevent futher abuses of their technology. NTP will be handling the patents.
I'm a fiscal conservative, it's a pity we don't have a political party anymore
Shouldn't that read: Gecko's Feet Feat...?
"Academicians are more likely to share each other's toothbrush than each other's nomenclature."
Cohen
As a long standing representative of the International Gecko Consortium, I am here by boycotting the sales of these supposed "RAM chips" for the implication and devaluing of the inherent value of our feet. We of the IGC will not stand idly by and watch you non reptilians continue to mount slanderous comments on our good name. Additionally we call into question the nature of this 'research' done by The Man - no upstanding Gecko would allow themselves to be poked, prodded, or subjected to any scientific research that would violate our religious and social mores. Furthermore if there are any geckos in captivity against their will we demand a full release and all forthcoming medical expenses for their recuperation will be paid in full by you, the evil mammalian overlords. It is high time be break the bonds of secondhand citizenship and take our place as equals!
Viva the green revolution!
I can get my computer off the desk and stick it to the wall.
"Wall mounted keyboards... It must be.... the FUTURE!" - Crow T. Robot
The interesting thing about gecko feet is that they work in a vacuum, unlike suction pads of other things.
This gives the evolutionaries a problem "why did geckos evolve to stick to things in a vacuum". It also gives the ID-believes a different problem "why did the intelligent designer give geckos the ability to stick to things in a vacuum"?
it also raises another question: what experiments were done to determine which animals can stick to walls in a vaccuum, and which cant. I can imagine a large glass container with all these animals clinging to the side, all the air being slowly sucked out and things like flies falling off as suction failes, but the geckos hanging on until the loss of air pressure causes their bodies to explode in a red pulp, leaving just four little feet, stuck to the wall.