several researchers have made one or a couple of devices in the lab, with great effort. the trick is figuring out how to make allot of them and do it well enough that a complex circuit will have all good parts most of the time. i think it was a decade ago that bell labs had a transistor that switched with one electron, but no one has made an array of them, and even the researchers had to resort to statistics to establish that it was switching with one electron, it's pretty hard to push or pull just one electron! there have also been very promising purely optical devices, but again no one has figured out how to make an array of them. that's the challenge in nano technology, getting the devices to self assemble into a small array. it's a chicken and the egg problem, likely once people figure out how to make a few nano machines they can use those as tools to build better tools to eventually build useful devices. there are frequent "break throughs", but not enough of them to expect that magic any time soon. but yes, in a few decades you may have a computer in your watch that makes a dual g4 or even a current super computer seem wimpy, and it won't even use much power!
B Yen wrote: -------- > They even talked to HP research, & were showing them the next technology -- > turning molecules "on & off". I think this might be the new quantum computers. > Trillions of "switches" per square cm. They showed some "image" of deposited > wire, which showed "molecular bumps" along side of it. ------------ -- "Promise me, promise me this day, promise me now..." he asked. "Even as they strike you down, you will remember: humanity is not our enemy. The only thing worthy of you is compassion...Hatred will never let you face the beast in human beings. One day, when you face the beast alone, with your courage intact, your eyes kind...out of your smile will bloom a flower. and...on the long, rough road, the sun and the moon will continue to shine." Thich Nhat Hanh, Buddhist monk -- G-List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- We have Apple Refurbished Monitors in stock! | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-List list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
