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Bulk Technology Might Produce Molecular Computers

Posted by Hemos on from the uber-solid-state dept.

PerlDiver writes "Researchers for UCLA and Hewlett-Packard have announced the creation of molecular logic gates utilizing rotoxane. " Consider this to be my little touch of nanotechnology today.

3 of 75 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Rather than Diamond Age, try... by WillWare · · Score: 3
    read Eric Drexler's "Engines of Creation" (full text online)
    Engines of Creation is here. Another good book, a somewhat breezier read, is Unbounding the Future .

    build a nanocomputer ... and you're no less prone to bugs and viruses
    That's certainly true. A computer involves many layers of abstraction, with logic gates near the bottom and operating systems and applications near the top. The article appears to be describing an innovation at the gate level. Desirable to be sure, but it is unlikely to change the computer at an architectural level.

    I might be wrong about that. I went to a talk on reversible computing, which you'd think would have relevance only at the lowest levels of abstraction. It ends up having ramifications all the way up, if you want to implement reversibility completely. (We can probably get almost all the benefit of reversibility with incomplete implementations.)

    --
    WWJD for a Klondike Bar?
  2. More details in SF Chronicle by rjrjr · · Score: 3

    The San Francisco Chronicle has a much better article. More technical details are toward the end.

    Interesting: in the print edition, this was the lead article, page one, above the fold, top right. Also, there was a decent graphic (which I can't find online) accompanying the article.

  3. Human integrated nanotech by TheIneffable · · Score: 3

    Implanting nanotech computers in people is cool; that is not disputed. We do, however, need to look at the possible downsides, as these buggers might prove to have some rather dark side effects, especially because with computers that size, molecular manipulation is a viable peripheral option.
    E.g.:
    1. "Your trial period for WinZip is now over, and you have selected not to uninstall. Thank you for using WinZip, and please enjoy our complementary copy of eHerpes 5.0"
    2. "System resource conflict with HP SCSI mini-CD drive and Generic Liver."
    3. "Speak to me! You're alive, I know it! God, why did I install NT on my brother?"
    4. "Man, it's hell when you're in a job interview and you get some porn site's spam."