22 replies to this topic

[Caseyweederman]

http://news.bbc.co.u...ogy/5164110.stm

"The chip, called magnetoresistive random-access memory (Mram), maintains data by relying on magnetic properties rather than an electrical charge."

"The benefit of Mram chips is that they will hold information after power has been switched off."

"Unlike flash memory, which also can keep data without power, Mram has faster read and write speeds and does not degrade over time."

"Mram chips could one day be used in PCs to store an operating system, allowing computers to start up faster when switched on."


This is huge. I've feared that this field of technology was in stasis, stagnating and not overly expanding. Sure, we've gotten more gigs, cooler software, and stuff has gotten smaller, but there haven't been any extraordinarily groundshaking inventions for years. Can we keep up the curve? We went so swiftly from the dark ages, through the Industrial Age, into this world of incredible technology.

So? What do you think is next? I have some ideas, but I'd like to know what you think. New theories, new ways of looking at gravity, time, efficiency, new technologies, flying cars, talking toasters, whatever.

Optimistically, I think we're in for some pretty neat stuff.
On the other hand, there is no way the planet can keep up with this hedonistic madness. and we'll hit the ground hard.

To tell you the truth, both of these scenarios seem very attractive to me. Ubertek, or the simple life. A rending feeling.

[rickoshay818]

Very nice... 4 MB huh?

[Drackir]

All I know is that when I get an appartment and a soldering iron, my computer is going to control every piece of electronics in there!

[Caseyweederman]

Oh yes. I'm already thinking of all that I'm going to do to my dorm room.
The computer/door combination is a must. I wonder if I could find a thing resembling a flatscreen monitor that somebody is throwing into the trash.

The monitor sits at eye level, and a keyboard flips out. The cabling is stapled to the wall near the hinges. The OS is Linux, runs Liero, and controls the door's locking mechanism.

This is partly based on a comic I wrote a long long time ago.


Oh, and I'm seriously (seriously) considering giving my gamecube to my neighbour while I'm at school. He's got it now and I don't miss it, whenever I want to play I knock on the door, but I find I'm fine without it.



Regarding the MRAM, it is a huge concept that is still being developed, but a few details I would mention are that since the memory is stored magnetically, there is indeed the chance of corruption. Consider this: a computer is a grab-bag of electromagnetic fields. That is part of the definition of running a charge through a wire. They recommend that you do not sleep in the same room as a running computer as the emf reaches some distances. If it can be that powerful, would it not have an adverse effect on the MRAM?

[Caseyweederman]

Ah yes, and what's more, another massive step in technology. I read about this a while ago but it just popped up on slashdot.

http://science.slash...2/0321217.shtml

Needless to say that this opens up an infinite amount of different directions for technology. One such application could be to hold dozens of supercomputers in your nose. Sure, it may not be practical, but who cares? Supercomputers that are beneath sensory recognition! I would recommend a book by Neal Stephenson: The Diamond Age. One of the main scientific (yet fictional at time of printing) concepts is that stuff could be made very very small. An application there is particles that float in the air that carry recognition capabilities and can carry out simple tasks. Picture every one being a GPS unit that can reproduce itself and identify other such particles. Oh, and play solitaire, of course.



::Combine the above nano-wire with the following story: Smallest transistor in existence.

http://www.scienceda...50608055511.htm

"He added: "Our prototype is a scientific breakthrough in molecular electronics. We have successfully shown the potential for devices of unheard-of smallness and unheard-of efficiency. This is the first time anyone has shown that a molecule is in fact a transistor.""

My speculation is that not the next generation of computers, but the generation after that will be such nano computers.
Hm. Nano Revolution? Pico Revolution? The Diamond Age (Neal Stephenson)? HellaHellaSmallAndFastComputing Age?
Production would be more expensive, but resources would be much much more efficiently used. Heck, you could make a top-of-the-line computer with all the mass of a safety pin. And you could make a lot of them.

Anyone want to join me in the first beta release of collective consciousness? I can't wait.

[DarkAngel]

I just hope no one puts a huge industrial magnet next to it....hehehe

-DA

[rickoshay818]

lol... Yes lets hope casey can handle the temptation to.

[Caseyweederman]

Well, I'm sure that there would have to be all sorts of shielding. Because, you see, a computer is basically a box of electromagnetic fields from the start.
And if you put a huge industrial magnet up to a computer, it will become what I prefer to refer to as "fried", with MRAM or no.

[rickoshay818]

hm lol never thought it that way I used to think that it would suck all the MB out. Thay might of been what happened to this comp. because it has like 200 mb or something. Well its old

[Drackir]

So wait. You're not supposed to sleep near your computer while it's on? Uh oh...

[Caseyweederman]

Well, if your computer gets hit with an electromagnetic pulse (emp), the hard drive can be rescued, but the rest of the computer is pretty much slag.

And yeah, I know, Dracky, I sleep with my head pretty much in my computer. Pretty close, anyways. Again, it's supposed to be really unhealthy and causes a lack of restfulness.

[rickoshay818]

Well Good heavens I don't. But you don't know what what other bad thing I half to do...I sleep in a bunk with my 6 year old bro thats cramped...

[Drackir]

Yeah and he also tends to eat your change.

[rickoshay818]

Yeah but it all came out good in the end...Hey I should make a topic on that!

[DarkAngel]

Well, I'm sure that there would have to be all sorts of shielding. Because, you see, a computer is basically a box of electromagnetic fields from the start.
And if you put a huge industrial magnet up to a computer, it will become what I prefer to refer to as "fried", with MRAM or no.

Funny story about magnets and computers....my friend was working for UPS and it was around christmas time. They had just got in a shippment of Gateway computers and a shippment from a science facility near by. Well the science facility had sipped HUGE industrial magnets. The magnets caem down the metal slide first....but metal slide...magnets...they got stuck and would not slide down. So since the magnets where stuck the stuff behind it DOESNT stop...so boxs full of computers where rolling over these huge magnets and some of the computers fell off the slide and smashed on the ground.

So the long and short of it is that a whole shippment of computers where completeled f'ed up due to these huge magnets they where rolling over...kinda funny.

-DA

[Drackir]

ROFL! That's amazing. Maybe they shoulda put some warning labels on them haha.

[rickoshay818]

How big were the magnets???

[Caseyweederman]

....That's incredibly awesome. Who paid for the damages? Who kept the damaged goods?

[rickoshay818]

I would keep the damaged goods!
I like junk...

[Caseyweederman]

Hm... I had thought that I already started a tech thread, but it does not appear to exist.

So:

Newsflash. An Irish company has discovered a method that is over 100% efficient. This is absolutely groundshaking, and though it is almost certainly a scam or a mistake, it's worth thinking about.

First, know this.
Steorn?s technology appears to violate the ?Principle of the Conservation of Energy?, considered by many to be the most fundamental principle in our current understanding of the universe. This principle is stated simply as ?energy can neither be created nor destroyed, it can only change form?. (http://www.steorn.ne...nology.aspx?p=5)

Violates the 'Principle of the Conservation of Energy?.


Here, then, is the summary.
When you spend energy, you lose energy. For example, to turn a hand generator, you actually spend more energy than you get, it's just that it changes form. Note that a lot of energy is lost due to inefficiencies.
In theory, the most energy you could return from such a method is 100%.

Well, some scientists were messing around with magnetic fields to improve those annoying shoplifter-alarm-sensors, and suddenly somebody realizes that there's this energy coming from nowhere. Again, this violates the fundamental laws of reality.

Is it true? Well, Steorn is opening the project up to 12 scientists worldwide (at this moment, 10:23am Aug. 29th, 4037 have registered) and they, acting as a jury, will discover exactly that.
View the company's site at http://www.steorn.ne...llenge.aspx?p=1

(Why is the summary longer than the original explanation?)


So. What does this mean? Well, free energy would make 95% of the contents of a car obsolete. That's right. Fuel tank. Gas lines. Cylinders. Etc. gone.

Thinking to myself, I recall the concept of the Ionocraft (or Lifter). The link is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionocraft

This device makes use of ionic air propulsion, and can lift its own weight, but not much more. This means that it must be "tethered" to a power supply.

Now, power supplies are known to be big and heavy, and not generally able to be lifted by an Ionocraft. Solution? A free energy supply! If this supply is either weightless or stackable, nothing is keeping us from mass-producing commercial ionocraft... Environmentally friendly. No exhaust.


The "downside" to being able to go where ever you want with complete impunity is that borders do not exist. If borders don't exist, neither do countries or governments.
Thus we would revert to a feudalistic society. Nothing is really keeping somebody from, to quote Greg Dean's comment on anarchy, coming into your backyard and killing your dog.


Hm... On the other hand, by such a point we would probably all be tagged with designations such as country. Borders would still be ineffectual, but governments and countries would still be able to keep their thumb on you. Rather, databases could be shared, blending the distinction between countries, and the concept of the criminal could be dealt with in whatever region to which they belong.


In any way, the world completely changes.
My next post will link Steorn's technology to the nano wire and molecular transistor.