Your Next Computer May Be Made of Water
When Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov of the University of Manchester developed graphene, it won them this year's Nobel Prize in physics. There were reasons for that. The one atom-thick substance, shaved from crystals, is possibly among the lightest-weight, most conducive and rugged materials on earth.
The avenues of development for the material include help in sequencing DNA and the possible creation of an extraordinary energy storage medium. But how can you make a computer out of the stuff? Just add water.
For those of you without advanced physics degrees, what that means is that you can use water in conjunction with graphene to create an on-off switch, a transistor.. How does a graphene/water transistor work? Take a wafer of graphene and slap it onto one of silicon and silicon dioxide, then send water into the tiny space between the two; the water backs away from the silicon toward the graphene, de-conducting the water, and breaking the connection.
Why is this important? Water is a safe, common element, so when and if the technology takes off, it would need, and create, less toxicity than current transistor technology. And that's nice. What's more compelling to the computing experience is that, in combination with radically extended storage possibilities, the graphene transistor has the potential to make computers tougher, much smaller and much faster than we have now. A device the size of tablet might carry the processing power and memory of a network of computers.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments
(
Atom
)
Popular Posts Last Week
-
This video is a recording of a panel on "Earth Summit 2012: Financing the Rio vision," which took place at the 2011 UNEP FI Global...
-
An LED Eyelash project is brought into the world to find an answer to this simple question: Why do women want larger and bigger eyes? In par...
-
A Rollable OTFT-driven Super Flexibel OLED Display by Sony
-
Never before has a time in history been so significant to so many cultures, religions, scientists and governments. Beyond 2012 looks past th...
-
Sheffield Wind, which will sell clean wind power to three Vermont utilities, is a part of the community. Find out how First Wind built the w...
-
Whitelee is already Europe’s largest onshore wind farm. It creates enough electricity to power 180.000 homes. Once extended, it will be able...
-
Hundreds of young people converged on the United Nations in New York today as the General Assembly kicked off a high-level meeting devoted t...
-
"BETWEEN 2 WORLDS" is a film about revealing the purpose of the Gregorian calendar and the European notion concerning "Manife...
-
Persons with disabilities must enjoy full human rights and fundamental freedoms and enabling them to do so benefits society as a whole, Depu...
-
National Wildlife Federation Naturalist David Mizejewski explores the relationship between sea ice and polar bears. As continued global warm...
Popular Posts This Month
-
National Wildlife Federation Naturalist David Mizejewski explores the relationship between sea ice and polar bears. As continued global warm...
-
New York City's current and former mayors highlight the revitalization of lower Manhattan in the days leading up to the 10th anniversary...
-
In New Orleans: Recovering From a Post-Katrina 'Brain Drain' : News : Breaking : Climate Central
-
An LED Eyelash project is brought into the world to find an answer to this simple question: Why do women want larger and bigger eyes? In par...
-
A Rollable OTFT-driven Super Flexibel OLED Display by Sony
-
"BETWEEN 2 WORLDS" is a film about revealing the purpose of the Gregorian calendar and the European notion concerning "Manife...
-
Sheffield Wind, which will sell clean wind power to three Vermont utilities, is a part of the community. Find out how First Wind built the w...
-
Whitelee is already Europe’s largest onshore wind farm. It creates enough electricity to power 180.000 homes. Once extended, it will be able...
-
Over the past 100 years human activity has led to an increase in earth's average surface temperature. Scientists have measured the incre...
-
Never before has a time in history been so significant to so many cultures, religions, scientists and governments. Beyond 2012 looks past th...
Popular Posts All Time
-
National Wildlife Federation Naturalist David Mizejewski explores the relationship between sea ice and polar bears. As continued global warm...
-
New York City's current and former mayors highlight the revitalization of lower Manhattan in the days leading up to the 10th anniversary...
-
Leuk idee om de aandacht op een bedrijf te vestigen. Wire & Twine maakte een op zich mooi overzicht van 50 manieren waarmee ze u willen ...
-
In New Orleans: Recovering From a Post-Katrina 'Brain Drain' : News : Breaking : Climate Central
-
NS en Greenwheels lanceren samen de eerste twee Volkswagen e-Golfs. De elektrische deelauto’s zijn vanaf donderdag 13 september te vinden bi...
-
Hundreds of young people converged on the United Nations in New York today as the General Assembly kicked off a high-level meeting devoted t...
-
At IBM's THINK Forum in NYC, Joshua Cooper Ramo, Managing Director, Kissinger Associates comments on not letting the risks of a networke...
-
Persons with disabilities must enjoy full human rights and fundamental freedoms and enabling them to do so benefits society as a whole, Depu...
-
Bridget van Kralingen, General Manager, IBM North America discusses Making the World Work Better at the IBM THINK Forum
-
Never before has a time in history been so significant to so many cultures, religions, scientists and governments. Beyond 2012 looks past th...
No comments :
Post a Comment