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Discovery of a "Flat" Atom Hailed as Quantum Computing Breakthrough

msw writes to tell us that nanoelectronics researchers have discovered a new molecule that could act as a state-manipulable atom due to its unique shape and properties. "Imagine a tiny arsenic atom embedded in a tiny strip of silicon atoms. An electric current is applied. Something strange arises on the surface -- an exotic molecule. On one end is the spherical submerged arsenic atom; on the other end is an 'artificial' flat atom, seemingly 2D, created as an artifact. The pair form an exotic molecule, which has a shared electron, which can be manipulated to be at either end, or in an intermediate quantum state."

21 of 205 comments (clear)

  1. Quick !! Couple the quantum inverters !!! by unity100 · · Score: 5, Funny

    and unleash them on the flux capacitor !!! we are getting into quantum artifact business.

    1. Re:Quick !! Couple the quantum inverters !!! by unity100 · · Score: 1, Funny

      no it wasnt, and no they shouldnt.

  2. Re:Quantum State by Romancer · · Score: 5, Funny


    He meant to say interdeterminatable.

    --


    ) Human Kind Vs Human Creation
    ) It'd be interesting to see how many humans would survive to serve us.
  3. Not sure, but sounds tasty by azzuth · · Score: 5, Funny

    Next time you think about putting your new quantum motherboard in your mouth think again.

  4. Electron sighting... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    With a 2D atom scientists can now predict (with considerably more accuracy) where that electron is located! This is amazing.

  5. Re:I am far too stupid by Volante3192 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Sadly, these flat atoms will never get the attention that more endowed atoms get on a regular basis.

  6. Youngsters by ciaohound · · Score: 4, Funny

    Back in my day, the President of the United States declared that arsenic counted as a vegetable in our school lunches, and although we didn't much like the taste, we all did our part to defeat the commies and make the world free. And this is the thanks the next generation has for us -- gettin' all uppity about using it in computers. Sheesh!

    --
    Oh, yeah, it's not easy to pad these out to 120 characters.
  7. "Tiny Arsenic Atom" ?? by anandamide · · Score: 5, Funny

    Is there a big variety I'm unaware of?

    1. Re:"Tiny Arsenic Atom" ?? by BrotherBeal · · Score: 1, Funny

      Yes. It's called New Jersey.

      --
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  8. Re:What do they mean by an "atom"? by argent · · Score: 3, Funny

    Ah, now it makes more sense.

    And now for something completely different...

    And to demonstrate that there is nothing so weird that the quacks won't latch onto it, when I googled on Positronium I discovered that someone is claiming that they have a homeopathic remedy created from the decay of Positronium.

    http://www.hominf.org/posi/posifr.htm

    Such gems as Since positronium is made up of both particle and anti-particle, it assumes a position mid way between matter and anti-matter. When it decays, it is converted into a pulse of pure energy. This threefold state has been picked up by a number of provers for whom the number 3 was prevalent in dreams and waking experiences. It also provides a convenient way to arrange and "map" (to see the map, a visual representation of the remedy, click here) the symptoms and themes of the proving, as we shall see later.

    Holy mother of Mendeleev, what a load of collywobbles.

  9. I, for one... by dwiget001 · · Score: 2, Funny

    am tired of these flat molecules. I want the largest, firmest and the most ample molecules that I can get my hands on...

    Wait... was thinking of something else. Never mind.

  10. Re:Quantum State by Linker3000 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yes, the electron has been interdeterminaterized

    --
    AT&ROFLMAO
  11. Re:Sure by burtosis · · Score: 3, Funny

    and they would be actually be inside the chips. I can't see how they would pose a danger to anyone.

    Puts away salsa

    What?

  12. Happy Accident by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 2, Funny

    from the breakthroughs-by-mistake dept.

    There's a word for that, just on the tip of my mind, meaning happy accident... ah yes: schadenfreude.

    --
    Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
  13. Re:Quantum State by Emb3rz · · Score: 3, Funny

    Quantum Computing is going to seriously mess with those who worked so hard to accept that (1 OR 0) = 1.

  14. Re:Quantum State by colinbrash · · Score: 3, Funny

    Of course, to get it back you are going to need a disinterdeterminaterizer.

  15. Obligatory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    In Soviet Russia, atoms flatten you.

  16. FTF Summary by aztektum · · Score: 2, Funny

    All I was able to grasp was

    Imagine ...

    Reading everything after caused my brain to spin into the guard rail.

    --
    :: aztek ::
    No sig for you!!
  17. Re:Quantum State by glittalogik · · Score: 2, Funny

    "that -1 should have been a 0. Sorry."

    I get the feeling quantum computers are going to have to say that a lot.

  18. Re:How dare you sir !!! by unity100 · · Score: 4, Funny

    and those subjects you mentioned are fictional devices from a bad 1980s movie and therefore, Offtopic.

    wow.

    you are sure you are in the right website ? you surely dont fit well with the demographic here. i would rather chop my own balls than call Back to the Future a bad movie in slashdot.

  19. and from this flat atom was born a new element... by ThatsNotFunny · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...Keiraknightlium

    --
    "Was it a millionaire who said 'Imagine No Posessions?'" -- Elvis Costello