Slashdot Mirror
Making Computer Memory From a Virus
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."
What if I drop the thing and cut myself on the memory? Will I get songs stuck in my head forever?
I can't wait to see how quickly this tech is misunderstood by politicians and eco-warriors!
Meta will eat itself
The last time I had a virus, I ended up with less memory.
If you've got any illegal MP3's, your player kills you.
Judge, jury and executioner all in one!
I can explain it for you, but I can't understand it for you.
DNA on silicon has already been done. Why not use a virus as scaffolding for memory, while we're at it? Granted, the virus' surface proteins are a functional part of the transistor. Given that we can already attach complex proteins (well, acids such as DNA) to silicon, there shouldn't be much trouble finding a method for similar tricks here. In other words, this is more practiceable than it sounds at first. I do wonder whether the virii or silicon traces are more resistant to heat, vibration, and radiation, though.
-1 raving lunatic; +6 subGenius... Things even out...
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?"
Most would consider a virus to be non-living. See Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virus
as I lunch some tenderloin with bacon and after, when I watch TV on my leather couch while drinking some beer. And cheese. :-)
It's better to be the foot on the boot than the face on the pavement. ~~ tkx Kadin2048
I think we should be asking ourselves "Is it really ok to subvert lifeforms like this for our own use?"
I'd answer, but my mouth is full of animal and vegetable lifeform. It's delicious.
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?
wot no sig
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.
How we know is more important than what we know.
"Is it really okay to subvert ' lifeforms ' like this?"
After all, they are trumpeting speed, but won't the legendary instability of the biological world come into view?
"Ooh, look. My memory mutated. It wasn't intelligently designed."
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
"you have a virus in memory"
"i know, my memory is made of viruses"
"no, i mean, there is a memory resident virus on your computer"
"no, the memory resides on the viruses"
"let me rephrase: your memory, made of viruses, has a virus"
"so you're telling me i have more viruses... so i have more memory? yeah!"
"no, this is a bad thing, you don't want viruses on your computer"
"you told me last week i want the most memory i can on my computer, and that's made of viruses"
"yes... i mean no, i mean..." (smacks forehead)
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
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.
If you've got any illegal MP3's, your player kills you.
Judge, jury and executioner all in one!
So what you are hypothesizing is that in a few years we will see a Microsoft Zune or iPods with Sony EbolaFlash® memory chip technology.
Only to idiots, are orders laws.
-- Henning von Tresckow
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?"
Yes, it's a slippery slope. If we allow this, before you know it they will be using higher life forms like plants or even animals to serve human needs.
sudo ergo sum
So is this the first analog computer virus?
Your search - "analog computer virus" - did not match any documents.
Looks like google agrees.
I don't want a pickle; I just want a Motor-Cycle! A four foot cop arrived with a five foot gun!
Chemical name of Dahlemense Strain of Tobacco Mosaic Virus is 3rd longest in English language, apparently (not sure I'd want to have a conversation with anyone who thinks this is really a valid English word, but anyway):
y lserylglutaminyl-l tryptophylalanyl-g inylvalylcysteinyl-y lphenylalanyl-y lthreonylthreonyl-r ylglutaminylvalyl-s erylthreonylvalyl-y llysylvalyltyrosyl-l prolylleucylisoleucyl-n ylaspartylthreonyl-y lvalylglutamyl-l threonylalanylglutamyl-l valylaspartylaspartyl-n ylasparaginylisoleucyl-l ylarginylglycyl-s paraginylthreonyl-y lvalyltryptophyl-
acetylseryltyrosylserylisoleucylthreonylserylprol
phenylalanylvalylphenylalanylleucylserylserylvaly
aspartylprolylisoleucylglutamylleucylleucylaspara
threonylserylserylleucylglycylasparaginylglutamin
glutaminylthreonylglutaminylglutaminylalanylargin
glutaminylvalylglutaminylglutaminylphenylalanylse
tryptophyllysylprolylphenylalanylprolylglutaminyl
arginylphenylalanylprolylglycylaspartylvalyltyros
arginyltyrosylasparaginylalanylvalylleucylasparty
threonylalanylleucylleucylglycylthreonylphenylala
arginylasparaginylarginylisoleucylisoleucylglutam
asparaginylglutaminylglutaminylserylprolylthreony
threonylleucylaspartylalanylthreonylarginylarginy
alanylthreonylvalylalanylisoleucylarginylserylala
asparaginylleucylvalylasparaginylglutamylleucylva
threonylglycylleucyltyrosylasparaginylglutaminyla
phenylalanylglutamylserylmethionylserylglycylleuc
threonylserylalanylprolylalanylserine
What will those crazy scientists bling next?
Reduce, reuse, cycle