dcn@ihuxl.UUCP (Dave Newkirk) (12/21/83)
(Summarized from The Institute, News Supplement to the IEEE Spectrum) A gathering of physicists, chemists, biologists and computer scientists recommended that the NSF support basic research in molecular computing. Molecular computers should complement purely electronic computers well, since they specialize in tasks that are difficult for current systems, such as sensory inputs depending on light, sound, temperature, pressure and texture. It may also be possible to construct a fully molecular computer, since one group member said carbon chains could be used to make a smaller, faster Von Neumann-like computer. Because of the numbers of molecules, there are 20**300 primitives operations available, compared to current instruction sets. Several crude devices have been fabricated, and the first useful products may only be five years away. Another attendee said "We've got to show the 'silicon guys' there is a different way to compute." Dave Newkirk, ihnp4!ihuxl!dcn
jan@mcvax.UUCP (Jan Heering) (01/03/84)
If you want to read more about Molecular Electronics you should take a look at: F.L. Carter (Ed.), Molecular Electronic Devices, Proceedings of the Molecular Electronic Devices Workshop, Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York, 1982. This workshop was held at the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington D.C. in 1982. I don't know whether the proceedings of the 1983 workshop (also held at NRL) have been published yet.