No, superconducting chip designs are possible, if you're sufficiently clever. IBM and other groups spent lots of money in the 70s trying to use Josephson junctions in a way analogous to transistors, so that the presence of a voltage on a line was a '1' and lack of a voltage was '0'. This was a dead end.
A more recent development has been to set aside these preconceptions and use the unique properties of superconductors. If you have a ring of superconductor, you can trap a quantum of magnetic flux in it- this corresponds to a bit of current flowing eternally around the ring. If a Josephson junction is part of the ring, it can, by changing state, release the flux quantum, creating a voltage pulse. Google for 'RSFQ' and you'll find lots more information.
The Russians do incinerate trash in re-entry. They
use robotic 'Progress' spacecraft to deliver supplies to Mir and the ISS, the Progress is filled with trash, undocks, and fires its engines to reenter and burn up. There was a Progress docked to ISS until a day or so before Endeavour docked- the Progress is currently in a holding orbit, and will return to ISS again after the shuttle leaves. They apparently want to test some software fixes in its automatic docking system, and will probably use it for additional trash haulage as well.
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No, superconducting chip designs are possible, if you're sufficiently clever. IBM and other groups spent lots of money in the 70s trying to use Josephson junctions in a way analogous to transistors, so that the presence of a voltage on a line was a '1' and lack of a voltage was '0'. This was a dead end.
A more recent development has been to set aside these preconceptions and use the unique properties of superconductors. If you have a ring of superconductor, you can trap a quantum of magnetic flux in it- this corresponds to a bit of current flowing eternally around the ring. If a Josephson junction is part of the ring, it can, by changing state, release the flux quantum, creating a voltage pulse. Google for 'RSFQ' and you'll find lots more information.
The Russians do incinerate trash in re-entry. They use robotic 'Progress' spacecraft to deliver supplies to Mir and the ISS, the Progress is filled with trash, undocks, and fires its engines to reenter and burn up. There was a Progress docked to ISS until a day or so before Endeavour docked- the Progress is currently in a holding orbit, and will return to ISS again after the shuttle leaves. They apparently want to test some software fixes in its automatic docking system, and will probably use it for additional trash haulage as well.