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Scientists Unveil Most Dense Memory Circuit Ever Made
adamlazz writes "The most dense computer memory circuit ever fabricated, capable of storing around 2,000 words in a unit the size of a white blood cell, was unveiled by scientists in California. The team of experts at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) who developed the 160-kilobit memory cell say it has a bit density of 100 gigabits per square centimeter, a new record. The cell is capable of storing a file the size of the United States' Declaration of Independence with room left over."
[unveiling the most dense memory circuit ever made] ...?
Dr. Tufnel: Look... densest memory circuit ever, so dense you can't even see the data on it, so dense it's never been used.
Reporter: [points his finger] It's never been used
Dr. Tufnel: Don't touch it!
Reporter: We'll I wasn't going to touch it, I was just pointing at it.
Dr. Tufnel: Well... don't point! It can't be used.
Reporter: Don't point, okay. Can I look at it?
Dr. Tufnel: No, no. That's it, you've seen enough of that one.
I know DNA has been proposed as a storage mechanism before. Since the immense human genome fits inside a cell, wouldn't DNA offer much denser storage?
The cell is capable of storing a file the size of the United States' Declaration of Independence with room left over."
Not in Microsoft Word format. Maybe ASCII.
HBI's Law: Frequency of calling others Nazis is directly correlated with the likelihood of the accuser being Communist.
The important question is how much pr0n can i fit on the head of a pin?
Please post all "Libraries Of Congress" jokes in this thread. Help keep Slashdot clean. Thank you.
how many Libraries of Congress you can fit into an elephant with this technology.
That's "Mr. Soulless Automaton" to you, Bub.
I gotta get some of these in my cluster!
Damn, none of my vague comparisons fit...
WAIT! How many angels can dance on it? That one is for small stuff, right?
You are still innocent until proven guilty. What's changed is what they do to innocent people. - notnAP, #26891325
I know DNA has been proposed as a storage mechanism before. Since the immense human genome fits inside a cell, wouldn't DNA offer much denser storage?
And have a stray biological virus get in and alter my computer's DNA-based memory?
I wouldn't want to think what the computer would use to alter its DNA-based memory fast enough to be useful, let alone what would happen if it escaped and latched onto an organism.
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
You know what I hate? Articles that show the scale of whatever they're talking about in obscure ways, like "size of a red blood cell" or "as long as eighteen schoolbuses lined end to end". Next time, just tell us the actual size and we can make that approximation ourselves!
d12
With 100 Gigabits per square cm, that means that a standard 3.5" platter would hold about 25 Tb of data, or about 3.1 terabytes of data.
Not as impressive with the new 1 TB drives coming out now.
Rough comparison here. Short answer: DNA is far more dense information storage than this technology. Never mind that human white blood cells also contain the machinery to both compute and replicate data stored within DNA (as well as replicating the computation machinery).
Biology still wins. But nanotechnology creeps ever closer year by year...
However, 32 of them should be enough for anybody.
DNA has built-in fault tolerance. By contrast, this new memory circuit by Caltech would vaporize once an alpha particle hits it.
I think you'll find that I'm much denser than this.
> What about languages where words take up one character like Chinese and Japanese?
:-)
While you raise a good point, you have to remember that kanji would have to be multi-byte characters, anyhow (there's waaaaaaaaaay more than 256 of them, trust me on this).
Also, although I'm only familiar with Chinese via my studies of Japanese, Japanese words rarely take up just one character (at least in the simplistic texts I read--I hold open the possibility that a higher percentage of kanji can be used if they ignore the Ministry of Education guidelines and use every available kanji or something). In Japanese, they have two different syllabaries (one for words of Japanese origin called hiragana, and another for foreign words, sound effects and probably other misc. things called katakana) which supplement the kanji they imported from China. They still need the kanji, BTW, because there are too many homophones (words that would be spelled the same and which mean completely different things), so they use the different kanji to make distinctions, although they do, for example, use kanji for a verb with hiragana to conjugate it. Very few words seem to be just one syllable.
Granted, that's now a whole different tangent than what you were saying, but I do agree with your premise that it would be a LOT more useful if they'd just tell us the actual capacity of the damn thing instead of giving us useless metaphors
Eh? Isn't it already veiled by virtue of its size, and if it has another veil which is removed (thus the unveiling) it's still kinda difficult to see...
not funny
please be to try these search terms: OOG_THE_CAVEMAN; hot grits; Natalie Portman; *BSD is dying
Why not just say "densest"?
- Is this volatile or non-volatile memory?
- What size word are they using?
- If non-volatile, what kind of endurance can be expected? What about data retention? It doesn't matter how small the memory is if the data only lasts 5 minutes. (Yes, I'm sure there would be applications even for that, but you get the point.)
- What are the write and read times?
- If volatile, does the data need to be refreshed continuously, or will it hold its value as long as power is applied?
- How much power is required for different operation?
Okay, so maybe I was expecting too much. But they could've at least given some of the most basic details, like word size (damned marketing dept!).The Yahoo! News article got the figures wrong. To get only 2,000 words (a computer term, not a linguistic one) out of 160-kbits they'd have to be 80-bit words. The article at Technology Review has better maths and more information to boot.
Therefore, 160 kb divided by 2000 English words, and assuming that we encode them in a 6-bit encoding, gives us over 13 letters per word, or call it 12 when allowing for punctuation.
Alternatively, assuming ASCII encoding, that still gives us exactly 10 characters per word, or call it 9 when allowing for punctuation.
Wikipedia claims that the average English word length is 5 plus one punctuation character.
Say you have a sliver of very thin metal disk just several atoms thick that spins. At a reoccurring predetermined time, a photon or particle gun shoots energy at the disk at a very specific location and say every 1 ms rpm, it misses an atom and hits a detector. However, if on the last pass, it's time is changed by .5ms and at 9.5ms that energy is obstructed and doesn't hit the detector. If this continues could you reasonably determine that the photon has been obstructed by a nucleus? Then once you've mapped all the locations (times) of all the nuclei in the metal, you take another disk and spin it underneath it and map the locations of it's nuclei. Then maybe a third disk. Couldn't you build a kind of memory gate just by determining the location of nuclei, and the timing of those photons that reach the detector? Then you wouldn't have to build nanoscale structures, or magnetic pits at all, you just use the existing atomic structure of the material itself?
Namaste
... who developed the 160-kilobit memory cell160000 / 2000 = 80
One word = 80 bits?
I've never heard of an 80-bit word architecture.
Unless of course they're speaking of an MS Word architecture, in which case even the byte count would be bloated
Sigs are for Terrorists.
The piece on Yahoo! News was pretty low on details, so here's the abstract from the Nature paper:
A 160-kilobit molecular electronic memory patterned at 1011 bits per square centimetre
Jonathan E. Green1,4, Jang Wook Choi1,4, Akram Boukai1, Yuri Bunimovich1, Ezekiel Johnston-Halperin1,3, Erica DeIonno1, Yi Luo1,3, Bonnie A. Sheriff1, Ke Xu1, Young Shik Shin1, Hsian-Rong Tseng2,3, J. Fraser Stoddart2 and James R. Heath1
The primary metric for gauging progress in the various semiconductor integrated circuit technologies is the spacing, or pitch, between the most closely spaced wires within a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) circuit1. Modern DRAM circuits have 140 nm pitch wires and a memory cell size of 0.0408 mum2. Improving integrated circuit technology will require that these dimensions decrease over time. However, at present a large fraction of the patterning and materials requirements that we expect to need for the construction of new integrated circuit technologies in 2013 have 'no known solution'1. Promising ingredients for advances in integrated circuit technology are nanowires2, molecular electronics3 and defect-tolerant architectures4, as demonstrated by reports of single devices5, 6, 7 and small circuits8, 9. Methods of extending these approaches to large-scale, high-density circuitry are largely undeveloped. Here we describe a 160,000-bit molecular electronic memory circuit, fabricated at a density of 1011 bits cm-2 (pitch 33 nm; memory cell size 0.0011 mum2), that is, roughly analogous to the dimensions of a DRAM circuit1 projected to be available by 2020. A monolayer of bistable, [2]rotaxane molecules10 served as the data storage elements. Although the circuit has large numbers of defects, those defects could be readily identified through electronic testing and isolated using software coding. The working bits were then configured to form a fully functional random access memory circuit for storing and retrieving information.
Also, an interesting bit from the very end of the paper:
Many scientific and engineering challenges, such as device robustness, improved etching tools and improved switching speed, remain to be addressed before the type of crossbar memory described here can be practical. Nevertheless, this 160,000-bit molecular memory does indicate that at least some of the most challenging scientific issues associated with integrating nanowires, molecular materials, and defect-tolerant circuit architectures at extreme dimensions are solvable. Although it is unlikely that these digital circuits will scale to a density that is only limited by the size of the molecular switches, it should be possible to increase the bit density considerably over what is described here. Recent nano-imprinting results suggest that high-throughput manufacturing of these types of circuits may be possible29. Finally, these results provide a compelling demonstration of many of the nanotechnology concepts that were introduced by the Teramac supercomputer several years ago, albeit using a circuit that contained a significantly higher fraction of defective components than did the Teramac machine4.
light bends around it?
(i just had to post this one.. )
than this. http://www.ieee-virtual-museum.org/collection/even t.php?id=3457012&lid=1
Wef
I thought white blood cells were giant honking cells. Aren't they much bigger than the size of the manufacturing process used to fabricate modern computer chips? I would have thought a piece of silicon the size of a white blood cell would be able to store more than 2000 words.
... Umh, what were we talking about again?
chains, slugs, inches of mercury... at least these are defined units
Engineering is the art of compromise.
"The cell is capable of storing a file the size of the United States' Declaration of Independence with room left over."
Dang, I'm gonna hafta get me some new reading glasses for this!
it could hold .008 songs.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
Give the summary credit for stating the following: "100 gigabits per square centimeter." That is a fine way to measure storage density.
Some NPR page has the volume of an M&M at 0.636cm^3. So this new ditty will store 7.95 GB in the space of an M&M.
Plain.
Lurking at the bottom of the gravity well, getting old
whoa! it's the black hole of moderation!
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How many Libraries of Congress come OUT of an elephant in a year?
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Is no one listening? See my previous comment on dumbed down descriptions at http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=218008&ci
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OK- How HD-DVD's can I back up on my middle finger if I stick it in my 2.0 USB port?
We (well, some humans) already have the technology (since the late 1980's) to move individual single atoms and arrange them in any pattern we like. We can also view and take pictures of the atoms/patterns. So technically we have DNA beat (since each "bit" of the DNA consists of multi-atomic amino acids). However, for us reading and writing the single atom data is super hard and time consuming. So DNA only wins if you specify highest density with faster read out time + write time summed
We have DNA beat when it comes to data read/write time (look at DRAM) and also access time. It's only on a combination of fast read/write and storage density that DNA wins out on.
I hate being pedantic but wanted to point that out. Go humans!
What was/is the LARGEST electronic memory storage circuit?
OK. "Declarations of Independence per white blood cell" is officially the coolest unit ever.
I suppose that is the small unit and the largest one for practical purposes would be Libraries of Congress per Spleen.
"Whether or not you believe me, I'm right" -RWF
I don't know... I think the memory cells in some of my users' brains are denser. And I don't mean in the storage capacity sense.
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
I can just see it now:
...10 minutes later...
"Hey, anyone have a copy of the Declaration of Independence on them?"
[Rummaging through pockets] "Yeah I know I've got it here somewhere."
"NOBODY MOVE! I DROPPED MY MEMORY CELL!"
Why measure in white blood cells? I thought the accepted standards were Jumbo Jets, Football fields or Statutes of Libertys, unless you are in Europe were the metric equivalent is the simpler Eiffel Towers? It's all a mute point anyway as Bill pointed out 640K is more than enough for anyone and he's, like, mega rich so he has to be right, right?
I immediately wondered if they were using a 16-bit word length or some different architecture.
Really? Are you sure? What do you have between the third and the fifth then?
A guilty conscience means at least you've got one.
The Bush Administration says it can now represent the whole thing with a single "NOT" gate.
"capable of storing around 2,000 words in a unit the size of a white blood cell"
"The cell is capable of storing a file the size of the United States' Declaration of Independence with room left over."
Talk about units wierd enough to be meaningless.
I'm going to tag this rodstothehogshead.
SJW n. One who posts facts.
How many Theodore Kaczynski Unibomber Manifestoes can it store? That's the real question.
That was the turning point of my life--I went from negative zero to positive zero.
To get a better idea of it in the real world,
:-)
how many installations of Duke Nukem forever could be made on a Beowulf cluster of white cells?
Last I heard African countries began outsourcing their elephant jobs to India.
off topic but...
/.
whats the deal with the word "maths"
I've been through some pretty advanced high school math and 4 years of a very math intensive comp sci program. Not once have I seen or heard the term "maths" anywhere but
Even worse: I get 3.5in -> 9.6in^2 * 2 sides -> 124cm^2 * 100Gb/cm * 1B/8b -> 1.55GB per platter, and that's assuming the entire platter is writeable including the spindle (which obviously isn't true).
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
I just developed a 161-kilobit memory cell that has a bit density of 100 gigabits per square centimeter. That's right, one more. Most blokes, are at 160. But I'm at 161 for when I need that extra push!
There are many tongues to talk, and but few heads to think. -Victor Hugo
I fail to understand how 100 gigabits/cm2 is impressive (especially for a technology that is said to be available in 2020). 8GB SDHC Cards are currently available. In other words, a 64 gigabits card with the overall dimension of 24 x 32 x 2.1mm including connector, plastic shell, etc. Compared to 100 gigabits/cm2 a simple SDHC Card does sound quite close in density! AC
The other option is to use the U.S. bill of rights. Since it keeps getting smaller, you should be able to store it on smaller and smaller objects. Eventually it could be stored as a binary 0.
Don't accidentally swallow these things. Too many, and you might end up with the Library of Alexandiarrhea.
si siht detpyrcne
I am currently working towards a PhD in a simmilar field. Let me tell you why I find this exciting. If you take a look at the article in Nature, you'll find that the switch is significantly different than those we see today. It is simply one molecule with an on-off state. This is the first time that a synthetic moleculular machinge has been incorporated into a working memory storage device. Rather than having to lithograph every junction, the molecules simply bind to the silicon wires to create a memory device. Working towards devices from much smaller molecular parts, rather than wittling large blocks of material, has been demonstrated to be a feasible next step in miniturization of electronics.