The first computer built entirely with carbon nanotubes has been unveiled, opening the door to a new generation of digital devices. "Cedric" is only a basic prototype but could be developed into a machine which is smaller, faster and more efficient than today's silicon models. Nanotubes have long been touted as the heir to silicon's throne, but building a working computer has proven awkward. The breakthrough by Stanford University engineers is published in Nature. Cedric is the most complex carbon-based electronic system yet realised. So is it fast? Not at all. It might have been in 1955. Cedric's vital statistics *.1 bit processor *.Speed: 1 kHz *.178 transistors *.10-200 nanotubes per transistor *.2 billion carbon atoms *.Turing complete *.Multitasking The computer operates on just one bit of information, and can only count to 32. "In human terms, Cedric can count on his hands and sort the alphabet. But he is, in the full sense of the word, ...
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