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The Light at the End of the Computer.(innovations)
Byline: Temma Ehrenfeld
Faster is always better, at least in computers, which is a big reason why engineers try each year to etch ever-tinier circuits into silicon chips. The shorter the distance the electricity needs to travel, the thinking goes, the faster the calculation. But shortening pathways isn't the only way to speed things up. Sending light, rather than electricity, zipping down these microscopic infobahns would be like trading in your bicycle for a Ferrari. Last week engineers at chipmaker Intel came a step closer to a light-based computer by inventing a device for manipulating light signals.
By itself, the device isn't all that impressive. All it does is encode data onto a beam of infrared light. It splits the beam in two, slows one down with an electric charge and recombines them to create a pattern of light and dark. By manipulating the charge, you can turn this sequence into the ones and zeros of computer code.
The real significance of the device is not what it does, but what it's made of: silicon, the stuff ...
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A hard-wired, three-component lighting control system, LiteTouch is designed to also control audiovisual equipment, window treatments, security systems, HVAC systems, and more. Control station keypad buttons are custom-engraved to identify controls. LiteTouch. 888.548.3824. www.litetouch.com.
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Source: HighBeam Research, The Light at the End of the Computer.(innovations)