AceNik's Portal

A team of MIT researchers has discovered a new silicon compound that—get this—melts as it gets cooler, some 500 degrees Celsius lower than silicon’s natural melting point. The researchers think it could eventually yield less expensive electronics.

Transfer a song to your phone. Seems pretty fast, right? Now imagine transferring the entire printed catalog of the Library of Congress in a minute and a half. Intel says they’ve got the technology to make it happen (eventually).

It only measures seven atoms but, according to project lead scientist Michelle Simmons, computers made with this transistor—the smallest ever made—will “solve problems that would take longer than the life of the universe with a classical computer.”

Simmons says that the silicone crystal-embedded transistor is the first that put us in a solid path towards true quantum computers, which she predicts will be available for deployment in commercial applications in just five years.

I’ve all but accepted my iPhone will never take Matt Buchanan-esque photos in low light. Hell, even in good light the results are oftentimes dull and grainy. Luckily an enhancement, like all things from the fantastic future, is almost here.

Scientists have already created mini-cyborgs out of living cells and semiconductor materials, but now biological cells can also contain tiny silicon chips, which could become sensors that monitor microscopic activities, deliver drugs to target cells or even repair cell structures.