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Making Computer Memory From a Virus

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the at-the-speed-of-sick dept.

An Ac writes, "By coating 30-nanometre-long chunks of tobacco mosaic virus with platinum nanoparticles, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, have created a transistor with very fast switching speed. They say it could eventually be used to make memory chips for MP3 players and digital cameras. A device fitted with such a virus-chip would access data much more quickly than one using flash memory."

9 of 196 comments (clear)

  1. Buzzzzzwords! by tygerstripes · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Tobacco, virus, nanotech... oh my!

    I can't wait to see how quickly this tech is misunderstood by politicians and eco-warriors!

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  2. mp3 players don't ned it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Soemthing that typically reads 128kbps doesn't exactly require heaps of bandwidth.

    Why isn't this suitable for general purpose memory, or cache?

    1. Re:mp3 players don't ned it by dk-software-engineer · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Soemthing that typically reads 128kbps doesn't exactly require heaps of bandwidth.
      It does when I update it, or just use it for generic data-transfer.

  3. Very fast switching speed???? by Maddog+Batty · · Score: 3, Insightful

    100 microsecond switch speed is very very slow for modern transistors (mentioned in article). What am I missing here? Is there a mistake in the article?

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  4. Ya know what I'm sick of.. by QuantumG · · Score: 4, Insightful

    the "basic research == future product" meme. For fuck sake. I bet if you were to go back the last 5 years and collect up all these articles and do a little survey of whether or not ANY of these bullshit descriptions of future products have come to pass you would find that NONE of them have. Why? Because if you discover something that could be turned into a product, you don't tell the world; you go find a venture capitalist and make the damn product.

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    1. Re:Ya know what I'm sick of.. by teslar · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You obviously have a point, but I think this (and all previous instances you refer to) is just a spin to keep funding bodies and marketing droids happy. Use your research to answer some fundamental philosophical questions on life, the universe and everything or whatever and you'll get a big yawn. Say that you're using nanotech, use the words "faster memory", "ipod" and "could replace flash" in one sentence, basically make dollar signs appear in the marketing droids' eyes, and you get to be in the news everywhere, people notice you and the next grant application should go a lot smoother.

  5. Re:Ethical concerns by Tim+C · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I hope you don't wear silk, eat meat, wear leather...

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  6. Temperature? by Plutonite · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Even virus RNA and cell wall can disintegrate at high temps. Will my memory melt if the cooling is not perfect?

  7. Re:Ethical concerns by sparkyng · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This raises an ethical concern for me. I think we should be asking ourselves "Is it really ok to subvert lifeforms like this for our own use?"

    I think of it more as a mutualism (or the very least, commensalism). The sole purpose of a virus is to replicate. Many viruses do that at the detriment to its host. But what better way to replicate than to become beneficial to the host (in this case, by storing data) such that the host actively "breeds" more of the virus? It's akin to saying you're "subverting" the bacterial flora in your gut for your own digestive purposes.