Cool Science Image

Photons: they're not just for torpedoes anymore. While the crew of the Starship Enterprise may use photon weapons against their enemies, researchers working with NASA are making progress getting computers to perform at light speed...literally. With U.S. data traffic increasing at an estimated 300 percent per year, computer scientists are under pressure to create better ways of transmitting data (through switches) and performing logic operations (computer "thinking"). Computers used to work in milliseconds (1,000ths), then moved up to microseconds (millionths), and now are approaching nanoseconds (billionths) for logic operations - and picoseconds (trillionths!) for the switches and gates in chips. What’s fast enough?

Computer speed has become a pressing problem as electronic circuits reach their absolute smallest - their miniaturization limit. No matter how tiny the wire, the electronic signals that computers use are bogged down by many aspects of the solid materials through which they travel. Heavy use creates heat that can damage the electronics. Optical computers, like the one shown here, are being developed to address the need for speed. Researchers are using photons (light), lasers, crystals and fiber optics to create the Terabit speeds - that's a trillion bits per second - experts say the Internet will soon demand. Full speed ahead, we say!

Image courtesy NASA.


			Browse archived CSI's:



			Not Just for Torpedoes Photons: they're not just for torpedoes anymore. While the crew of the Starship Enterprise may use photon weapons against their enemies, researchers working with NASA are making progress getting computers to perform at light speed...literally. With U.S. data traffic increasing at an estimated 300 percent per year, computer scientists are under pressure to create better ways of transmitting data (through switches) and performing logic operations (computer "thinking"). Computers used to work in milliseconds (1,000ths), then moved up to microseconds (millionths), and now are approaching nanoseconds (billionths) for logic operations - and picoseconds (trillionths!) for the switches and gates in chips. What’s fast enough? Computer speed has become a pressing problem as electronic circuits reach their absolute smallest - their miniaturization limit. No matter how tiny the wire, the electronic signals that computers use are bogged down by many aspects of the solid materials through which they travel. Heavy use creates heat that can damage the electronics. Optical computers, like the one shown here, are being developed to address the need for speed. Researchers are using photons (light), lasers, crystals and fiber optics to create the Terabit speeds - that's a trillion bits per second - experts say the Internet will soon demand. Full speed ahead, we say! Image courtesy NASA.