Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Scientists Unveil Most Dense Memory Circuit Ever Made

Posted by samzenpus on from the size-matters dept.

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."

18 of 249 comments (clear)

  1. Press Conference Transcript by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    [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.

  2. Really? by HBI · · Score: 5, Funny

    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.
    1. Re:Really? by LighterShadeOfBlack · · Score: 4, Funny

      Wait, so how many United States' Declaration of Independence do you get per Libraries of Congress? At room temperature, obviously.

      --
      Spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, and stupid comments are intentional.
    2. Re:Really? by Frogbert · · Score: 4, Funny

      I think I speak for the rest of the world when I say 'How the fuck long is the Declaration of Independence?"

    3. Re:Really? by Americano · · Score: 5, Funny

      You know, I'm pretty sure the British government received a copy of it... look around, maybe you still have it. :)

    4. Re:Really? by Runefox · · Score: 5, Funny

      1338 words
      So if the "The" at the beginning of the bolded opening sentence were dropped, the USA would instantaneously be the best place on earth?

      --
      Screw the rules, I have green hair!
  3. Public Service Announcement by mrsam · · Score: 5, Funny

    Please post all "Libraries Of Congress" jokes in this thread. Help keep Slashdot clean. Thank you.

  4. The real question is... by ENOENT · · Score: 5, Funny

    how many Libraries of Congress you can fit into an elephant with this technology.

    --
    That's "Mr. Soulless Automaton" to you, Bub.
    1. Re:The real question is... by joe_bruin · · Score: 3, Funny

      how many Libraries of Congress you can fit into an elephant with this technology.

      So you want to know the LoC / metric pachyderm of this technology? I'm not sure, but don't go by what it says on the box, they define a kilo-Library of Congress to be 1000 LoCs, not 1024.

    2. Re:The real question is... by Bogtha · · Score: 5, Funny

      how many Libraries of Congress you can fit into an elephant with this technology.

      Well, this page estimates LoC at 10 terabytes, which works out to 81920 gigabits. According to the article, a bit density of 100 gigabits per square inch means that you'd need 819.20 square inches to store the Library of Congress.

      According to this page, an elephant can reach 11 feet tall, or 132 inches, and 30 feet long, or 360 inches. According to this page, an elephant can reach 6'4" wide, or 76 inches. That's a dimension of 132 x 360 x 76 inches, or 3,611,520 square inches — assuming cubic elephants (there's a phrase you don't hear every day!).

      Given these figures, a reasonable first guess would be that you could fit approximately 4,400 Libraries of Congress into an elephantine memory circuit. Or, if you prefer to work with more manageable quantities, 4.4 megalocs per kilophant.

      How long before Google add LoCs to their calculator?

      --
      Bogtha Bogtha Bogtha
    3. Re:The real question is... by skribe · · Score: 4, Funny

      African or Asian elephant?

      --
      Blog
    4. Re:The real question is... by Drooling+Iguana · · Score: 4, Funny

      But African elephants are non-migratory!

      --
      ... I'm addicted to placebos
  5. COMPARISONISTICS! by adam.dorsey · · Score: 5, Funny

    The cell is capable of storing a file the size of the United States' Declaration of Independence with room left over. Yeah, but how many 747s does it weigh? ...no, wait, how many Sears Towers is its height?

    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
  6. Says nothing about the size of support circuitry by Cracked+Pottery · · Score: 4, Funny

    However, 32 of them should be enough for anybody.

  7. Re:Yeah, thanks by Wooloomooloo · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yeah, comparing the size of things to lined up schoolbuses is pointless unless you specify whether they're european or african schoolbuses...

    *stings on drums*

  8. Re:Which words? by chris_eineke · · Score: 3, Funny
    n bits to a word. Then I thought "wait a minute, which architecture?".

    Since they're red blood cells, which are essential to life, to the universe, and everything, I would say it's going to 42 bits to a word. :P
    --
    "All you have to do is be fragile and grateful. So stay the underdog." Chuck Palahniuk, Choke
  9. Re:DNA-memory and computer bio-viruses by SP33doh · · Score: 5, Funny

    oh god the science fiction! IT BURNS!

  10. Sorry have to finish it by painQuin · · Score: 3, Funny

    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.