Computer Tech When Most Technology

Computer Tech

When most technology companies seek upgrades to their software systems or increases in their bandwidth, the most promising events on the computer horizon include advanced innovation in nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing. In "The Future of Computer Technology," Chris Hertzog explains teach of these fields and their practical applications. Most of the emerging computer-related technologies will help satisfy the need for smaller and more efficient processors. Nanotechnology especially promises tiny, even microscopic, computers. As Hertzog shows, nanotechnology is being explored in a number of different capacities for computer technology applications. Hertzog divides nanocomputers into four main categories: electronic nanocomputers, chemical nanocomputers, mechanical nanocomputers, and quantum nanocomputers.

Electronic nanocomputers are created with microscopic circuits that use nanolithography. Chemical and biochemical nanocomputers are based on the interaction between different chemicals and their structures. The chemicals can store and process information like micro-microprocessors. Using chemical nanocomputers, individual atoms and molecules can be manipulated to perform advanced computing functions or to store data.

Using "tiny mobile components," mechanical nanocomputers can encode information too. The mechanical nanocomputers use what developers call "nanogears," which can be used in the robotics field. Quantum nanocomputers store information in a different way: via quantum states and the principle of quantum physics. The quantum nanocomputers use principles like single-electron memory (SEM), spin, and quantum dots.

Hartzog also explains humanizing nanocomputers, which are also the foundation of nanorobots. Nanorobots are mainly being designed for use in medicine, as programmable antibodies that can target specific diseases. The nanorobots can be placed inside the body to destroy inbound pathogens. Some nanorobots are being designed as "spray-on computers the size of a grain of sand." Edinburgh University has been working on nanorobots that can be sprayed onto patients as monitoring devices. They may be released for medical use in four years.

Quantum computers, based on principles like quantum entanglement and superposition, use the properties of particles. Quantum bits, called qubits, can process information faster than any existing computer technologies. A quantum computer can process many equations simultaneously. In a smaller space, using less energy, a quantum computer becomes more powerful than any commercial PC. In fact, Hertzog implies that quantum computers will mainly be used in fields demanding rapid data processing like the sciences or in cryptography.