US researchers have developed a fully functional PC - but it is not moving electrons, and mini-magnetic liquid droplets. The ultimate goal is to use this machine accurately control and manipulation of matter, just as conventional computers manipulate information.
Although the new water-based computer has a universal logic gate and could theoretically perform everything a normal computer, it is much slower than our used equipment. But the team plans to the invention is much higher - to revolutionize materials handling and production.
"We have digital computers process the information ... Our goal - to create a whole new class of computers that can accurately control and manipulate materials," the press release said Manu Prakash, study guide and bioengineers from Stanford University. "Imagine that in their calculations, process not only information but also algorithmically manipulating physical materials. Made it possible meso scale [from 10 to 1 mm].
"In this paper, we show a simultaneous, universal droplets logic and control," he added.
Prakash a computer idea came nearly a decade ago, but even though the water droplets come up with a way to control it was quite simple - admixing them to magnetic nanoparticles and moving the iron strips maze - the synchronization of movement was not an easy task.
Routine computer does this watch is perfect for each of the motion, but the team still Prakash Will not how it can be carried out with water. But then they had the idea of a rotating magnetic field.
"Every time turning over the field, and change the polarity stripe and magnetic droplets traveling in the direction of the new set, like toy cars run," explains Stanford press release. "Every field rotation is like a clock cycle as the instantaneous rotation dial pointers, and with each cycle droplets moves forward one step."
You can see how the system works:
Prakash team found that the magnetic "clock" leads the system fully synchronized, which means that it can run without errors basically forever. And it carries the information, using water droplets or absence as a binary code 1 and 0.
"Under these rules, we showed that we can create a universal electronic logical elements, simply by changing the strips of placing a chip," said researcher Georgios Katsikis. Space design of our platform incredibly broad. Give us any Boolean algebra logic circuit and we will be able to create these small magnetic droplet motion. "
Publish in the journal Nature Physics, the team has demonstrated how this system to create a simple machine, with 1-bit memory.
Current chips are roughly half the size of a postage stamp, and droplets smaller than a grain of poppy, but the team does not see why the system can not be further reduced or added more droplets so that it is more complex.
They expect that their computers are able to perform reactions that are now performed in numerous tubes - essentially, every drop may be a substance, and he may become perfectly controlled tube.
Now team is developing tools that everyone will be able to create your basic system, and changing the design to achieve a new level. "We try to provide the same exponential growth in the physical world, what we see in the digital world," said Prakash.
