Microscopic Computers

The first computers utilized vacuum tubes.  Besides requiring a great deal of power to operate, they
were bulky, which in turn made the processing speed slow. 

The development of the transistor provided the first leg up toward the modern computer.  Besides
requiring less power to operate, the transistor's smaller size increased processing speeds. 

Then came the silicon chip.  This device allowed the creation of many transistors and other circuits in
one small package.  And the more transistors that could be placed on a chip, the faster it could process
data. 

Miniaturization followed which allowed even more transistors and circuits to be placed on a chip. 
Processing speeds doubled and quadrupled.  It also allowed development of smaller chips and
components for truly compact equipment like laptops. 

However, there is a limit to this silicon based technology.  And the methods used to make chips are
rapidly reaching the point where further miniaturization will not be possible.  In other words, if computer
power is to increase further, a replacement for silicon chips must be found. 

According to news sources, the answer may already be more than just an idea.  One report speaks of
researchers who are trying to make computers using molecular circuits.  They believe it is possible to
chemically synthesized circuit components to create the electronics otherwise provided by the circuits
on silicon chips.  In fact, there are reports that a basic element of computer circuitry, the logic gate, has
already been accomplished, at least to some degree, using synthetic molecules. 

A computer based on molecular technology would redefine what is now thought to be super-fast. 
Furthermore, they would be very efficient.  For example, a laptop consisting of molecular circuits could
run for years on nothing more than a hearing-aid battery.  After all, it only takes one electron to open or
close a single molecule switch.  So, a molecular computer could perform trillions of operations per
second on just one watt of power. 

Besides being cheaper to operate, molecular circuits would cost less to manufacture.  The reasoning
behind this conclusion may seem somewhat odd, but necessity is the mother of invention.  Anything
made chemically will invariably contain defects.  Thus, in order to make a computer consisting of
chemically synthesized components work, a means must be found to work around the defects.  It is
thought that new software will provide the answer.  Indeed, such programming is already being
developed.  For instance, a computer with deliberately installed defective components was made to
work using software designed to detect the bad parts and reroute functions around them. Hence, the
highly expensive manufacturing facilities needed to produce the needed near-perfect silicon chip would
not be a factor in the fabrication of molecular circuitry. 

The real benefit of molecular computers, though, would be size. Whereas computers today can be built
into little packages, "little" hardly describes a computer the size of a bacterium.  Imagine a computer
smaller than a blood cell! It is conceivable that such a device could be injected into a human body to
perform medical diagnostics. 

Microscopic computers, though, would not be limited to use in the medical field.  Intelligent roads
created with computerized concrete could eliminate the driver.  Paint capable of changing color on
command could be made.  Nanocomputers woven into fabrics would create "smart clothes." When
computers become the size dust particles, there is little limit to what could be computerized. 

Needless to say, the government is very much interested in the development of molecular electronics. 
The success of "Smart" weaponry relies on sophisticated computer technology.  The space required by
electronic components, along with the required power source is critical.  It is not surprising, then, to find
a good deal of funding for research into low-power, ultraminiaturized electronic components coming
from the Defense Department.  The projects are also of interest to NASA in both their space station
and unmanned spacecraft research.

(From CIVIC 64/128 Gazette, Oxnard-Ventura CA, October 1999, via the Commodore Information
Center, http://home.att.net/~rmestel/commodore.html)