Thanks to technologies like 3G and Wi-Fi, we've never been able to grab and store as much content on the go faster. The problem is figuring out where to put all this digital stuff. Now imagine being able to cram the entire contents of YouTube, or roughly 30,000 feature-length movies, into a device the size of an iPod.
A series of breakthroughs by IBM suggests a future in which we won't have to worry about what to discard and what to keep on our mobile devices. With 20 years of research under its belt, the company's team has found a way to increase computer storage capacities 1,000 fold.
How Nanotechnology Increases Storage Capacity
Here's how it works: By isolating atoms, scientists can calculate each one's magnetic potential. According to Gian-Luca Bona, manager of science and technology at the IBM Almaden Research Center, the researchers' dream is to use these individual magnetic atoms to hold pieces of information. That means one day hard drives in everything from notebooks to MP3 players could become unimaginably powerful. Researchers estimate that one day we'll be able to store about 150 terabits per square inch--that's about 1,000TB.
Storing Information on Individual Atoms
In addition to wildly greater storage capacity, isolating atoms will allow for faster speeds and connectivity. "This is really a breakthrough that you can store information into an individual atom, but the other elements are as important," Bona said. "How can you use individual atoms as processing elements? How can you transport information from A to B using individual atoms?" To use the YouTube example, you won't just be able to store the contents of the site on an iPod-sized device; you'll be able to download and share content in a fraction of the time.
Nanotechnology on Personal Devices
Although Bona predicts nanotechnology might be used in personal devices in as few as 10 or 15 years, these advances won't mean much without an additional ingredient: intuition. How else are we supposed to navigate these super libraries of information?
"We have the building blocks," Bona said. "We don't yet know how to arrange them in a new architecture that is brain-like, and we don't know the underlying blueprint that makes us so superior."
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