The Grand Challenges Exercise…
Seven grand challenges in computing for the next twenty years are outlined by the British Computer Society.
- In Vivo-in Silico (iViS): the virtual worm, weed and bug;
- Science for global ubiquitous computing;
- Memories for life: managing information over a human lifetime;
- Scalable ubiquitous computing systems;
- The architecture of brain and mind;
- Dependable systems evolution;
- Journeys in non-classical computation.
| Source: Grand Challenges in Computing (pdf report) |
| Picture Source: University of Innsbruck's Quantum Optics and Spectroscopy Group |
Controlling the Speed of Light
Scientists use an alexandrite crystal to slow light to 91 m/s and make laser pulses travel faster than the speed of light. Fast and slow light made easy.
| Source: Optics.org |
With fiber optic cable made from Alexandrite crystal, information could reach its destination immediately bypassing the delay caused by the speed of light.
Getting Closer to the Optical Chip
"The quantum dots sit at the bottom of quantum 'canyons,' or wells, Sargent explained. Electrons fall over the edge of the canyons and lose energy that is emitted as light when they reach bottom. Stabilizing molecules ensure that a steady flow of energy-losing, light-producing electrons falls into the wells."Optical Chips May Emerge from Quantum Canyons
| Source: NewsFactor |