Doom Dimensions

[epic]

So you like playing Doom on your pc today... how about tomorrow's pc!

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,128...html?tw=rss.TOP

Issue is, containing literally rare earth elements, Quantum Computers will not be for the faint of heart.

[HyperHacker]

Very cool, but one thing that people don't seem to realize is that light could be too fast... computers use mostly electricity to operate. Imagine if you took an ordinay computer and put in, say, a 3,000,000 GHZ CPU. The CPU would actually have to spend just about all its time waiting for the memory to recieve and return a signal. Not a very efficient process!

[ringfinger]

Surely a good read, but as hyperhacker mentioned it will take a loooooooooong time I believe to conqer quantum computing... but oh how sweet it will be!!

[Jeremy]

Reminds me of the holodecks on Star Trek TNG. I love that show.

[epic]

Very cool, but one thing that people don't seem to realize is that light could be too fast... computers use mostly electricity to operate. Imagine if you took an ordinay computer and put in, say, a 3,000,000 GHZ CPU. The CPU would actually have to spend just about all its time waiting for the memory to recieve and return a signal. Not a very efficient process!

This is exactly what they are saying. They need to trap light in order for the crystal to return. In this case they are using lasers. Lasers travel faster than light traveling through our atmosphere. They need a special component to slow down the speed of light, which in this case is a rare substance praseodymium, and who knows a cheaper substance just may be usable after several years of research. Question comes to mind... what if these scientists slow down light too much, would it create a vacuum?

Regarding the 3million GHz CPU, doubt it will come to that, even for silicon cores, just imagine the heat radiating from it, beef pot roast anyone? Now, if someone were to build a computer that could trap, harness the energy of, light and reflect it in such a way that it never fades to efficiently conduct a charge, we just may have a quantum computer. In theory, there would be no need for memory, hard disk drives, a cpu or even fans to cool the machines, but I am not saying it would happen overnight either. The PC would ultimately be running forever and faster than modern pc’s until something breaks. Theoretically a PC running strictly on the consumption of light is possible, but when; is the question.

Electricity is also governed by the same principles of light. The only difference is that electricity travels much slower than light. Metals contain different structures of atoms, which causes a flux in density (charge) as for conducting through copper wire is much slower than through a vacuum, but I am no numbers guy like you Hyper

People also said we could not fly or even go to the moon and was scientifically impossible! Tell them, “Here’s an egg…. Be creative!”

Edited October 6, 2005 by epic

[HyperHacker]

3 million was just a made up number. The point is there is a maxiumum to how fast an electric CPU can be, and anything faster in an otherwise-electric system won't see any speed gain.

[FthrJACK]

quantumn computers will be here around 2050. i might still be alive then! woot

[Jeremy]

quantumn computers will be here around 2050. i might still be alive then! woot

Will computers still be an interest when you're old?