[ReadMyMind]

Scientists at Cornell University in New York have built a transistor just one atom wide.

Unfortunately, before their feat could be independently verified, they misplaced the one atom wide transistor. They're still looking for it.

[Lazamataz]

I want a computer so small it only has one key on the keyboard.

[alloysteel]

I guess the size of a transistor can't be scaled down much more than that.

[Common Tator]

The next step is the organic logic device based on organic devices to aproximate the processing power of the human brain.

A human can see an image of something as complex as a human being. The human can be facing the camera, or in profile. Standing up or stiting down. Dresses in rags or in the latest fashion, and we can recognize them in an instant. Computers are not even close to human performance. But they will be.

The first computer was invented by a man names Babbage who worked on it from 1799 to 1840. His computing device had RAM and ROM, program instructions, input, and output. His research was paid for by the British government. The problem was he only had metal and wood from which to build it.

The first digital computers used radio tubes. They needed tons of electricity. A single byte of data needed 8 coils of wire around 8 magnets to store it. The invention of transistors did away with tubes only to quickly followed by integrated circuits. Today we are reaching the limit of integrated solid state devices just as we did 40 years ago with tubes.

The new organic devices will replace solid state as easily and as quickly as the tranistor replaced the tube and the integrated circuit replaced the individual transistor.

People have been publishing such articles since at least the 1880s. Then they wanted the government to stop wasting money on the patent office. It seems there were lots of people in 1880 who were certain that everything had already been invented.

Moores law could speed up. It is unlikely to slow down. The world is full of creative people.... except for journalists.

You need to remember that

Chicken Little was the worlds first journalist and set the standard for accuracy in reporting.

[Post Toasties]

It appears that the narrowest part of this transistor is one atom wide. The article doesn't say how wide the whole transistor is.

[The Magical Mischief Tour]

Many scientists believe transistors cannot get any smaller than one atom in size, which means new technologies would have to be invented for Moore's Law to stay relevant.

Infinitely big and infinitely small…

At one time scientist believed the atom was the smallest particle, the end of the line, then someone discovered it was only the beginning, they even ran out of names and began calling’em glue balls and eventually had to give them flavors like vanilla glue balls.

Technology will continue to advance by leaps and bounds in due time people will be laughing at the notion that scientists believe transistors cannot get any smaller than one atom in size.

TMMT

[Jack Wilson]

Downside: this thing is really easy to lose...

[Larry Lucido]

When they come up with a transistor as small as Barbra Streisand's brain, I will be impressed.

[Uncle George]

Dr. Frankinstein didn't have to use no steenking transistors to do the job. He used graveyard DNA and a lot of sewing thread plus a 50 jigawatt jolt to create a walking computer.

[Freeper john]

That will be nice. I get so tired carrying around my laptop with all those 128 atom switches.

[afraidfortherepublic]

And how do you use this tiny transistor in manufacturing? What tool do you use to pick and place it?

[Tuor]

Quantum interference would ruin any system of transistors this small, methinks.

Tuor

[Centurion2000]

Many scientists believe transistors cannot get any smaller than one atom in size,

I'd really like to see someone try to make a transistor out of subatomic particles or quarks. That would be a VERY interesting trick.

The problem with this story is that if it's TRULY one atom in size then how the heck do they get past the Heisenberg Uncertainty principle ?