Encoding Data in DNA

Scientists have successfully encoded data using nucleic acids as a storage medium -- including all 154 of Shakespeare's sonnets, historic video clips and modern texts and photographs -- allowing massively greater capacities than current methods for archival material and storage lifetimes that could last for millennia under optimal conditions.

Biological Magnetic Storage Media

Scientists have extracted the protein certain strains of bacteria use to convert absorbed iron into magnetic nanoparticles and have applied that biotechnology to the production of magnetic mass-storage media with capacities far greater than current industrial chemical methods.

Artificial Intelligence and Fossils

Researchers are using neural network software and other artificial intelligence tools to scan satellite images for potential dig sites and areas of greatest probability of finding fossil-rich deposits when planning their fieldwork.

Computers from Bacteria and DNA

Scientists have successfully constructed some basic computational logic gates out of gut bacteria (E. coli) and modified DNA that function just as their semiconductor counterparts, suggesting the feasibility of biological computers.

Computer Analysis of Torah

Researchers have developed a computing algorithm specifically to analyze the books of the Bible to identify individual contributing sources by focusing strictly on writing style instead of content, specifically the use of function words and synonyms.

T. rex Computational Analysis

Using advanced three-dimensional solid modeling techniques, researchers have computationally reconstructed Tyrannosaurus rex growth patterns beginning from high-definition scans of actual bones, revealing that the dinosaur grew significantly heavier and faster than previous calculations predicted.

Optical Diode

Engineers have developed a silicon waveguide only 200 nm thick and 800 nm wide that transmits light in only one direction -- a precursor to an optical diode, a key component for the development of optical computing.

Three-Dimensional Transistors

Intel has developed a new Tri-Gate transistor with a true three-dimensional structure that offers better performance and efficiency over conventional two-dimensional circuits and is scheduled to be introduced into microprocessor production later this year.

"Racetrack" Memory

A new type of high-volume, shock-proof, non-volatile "racetrack" magnetic memory has been developed using billions of nickel-iron nanowires embedded on a chip that could make standard computer memory 100,000 times faster.

Replace BIOS with UEFI

Having long outlasted its design lifespan, the legacy software for personal computers known as BIOS used to initialize and boot the individual systems will be replaced in 2011 with a more powerful and flexible Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI), which should allow computers to boot in seconds.

Laptops as Earthquake Detectors

Researchers at UC Riverside and Stanford University have developed a novel method of distributed computing called the Quake-Catcher Network, which takes advantage of accelerometers built into commercial laptops and shareware to act as a low-cost earthquake warning system.