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Researchers Building Computers That Run on Light

Posted by samzenpus on from the heliotropic-machines dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Researchers in England are attempting to build a desktop computer that runs on light rather than electronics. A $1.6 million research project starting in June at the University of Bath is focused on developing attosecond technology, which refers to continuously emitting light pulses that last just a billion-billionth of a second."

5 of 133 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Optical computing is a dead end by adtifyj · · Score: 3, Informative

    The all-optical transister is not imaginary.

  2. Bogus science? by purify0583 · · Score: 3, Informative
    After reading the real article from the Uni of Bath site containing these few sentences...

    The continual series of short bursts of light will not only dramatically affect technology - it will also advance physics by giving researchers the chance to look inside the atom. and

    By sending the light in short bursts into an atom, they will be able to work out the movements of electrons, the tiny negatively charged particles that orbit the atom's nucleus. Heisenberg what? Hrm.. Well the story seems to really be about the fact that they got a really phat grant for their optics research, but they appear to be really far away from doing anything new or building anything practical. So Im guessing that they really arent really trying to violate Heisenberg; it probably just PR grant-getting lingo (the whole article is littered with it...from atto-second to optical computing to medical lasers). Congrats on the grant, but Im sort of disappointed there is nothing newsworthy other than the fact that they got a grant.
  3. Re:gghz by podwich · · Score: 2, Informative

    A billion billionths of a second = 1 second.
    A billion-billionths of a second = 1E-18 seconds.

  4. Re:In the long term by LincolnQ · · Score: 2, Informative

    Has anyone studied the possibilities of programming using bidirectional logic?

    Feynman has. In his _Lectures on Computing_, he talks about the ramifications of bidirectional gates (reversible computing, but with a cost in complexity) in the context of entropy conservation. It's pretty interesting stuff.

  5. Re:Attosecond? by ravenshrike · · Score: 3, Informative

    Just because something is light, does not make it visible light. Technically speaking, x-rays are a form of light. Admittedly a realatively useless for computing form of light, but still.