A truly atomic-scale 'bit'...

has been created by researchers at IBM, reaching the smallest physical limit for a memory element: Magnetic Memory Miniaturized to Just 12 Atoms.  For comparison, present technology uses about one million atoms to achieve the same memory state.  Amazing.

I guess this effectively defines the upper limit of Moore's Law, at least insofar as conventional integrated circuit technology goes.

RELATED:  So maybe this is the future at the subatomic scale - so-called quantum computing - by controlling the spin of electrons: Ten-Second Dance of Electrons Is Step Toward Exotic New Computers. Like I said before, amazing.

Holy Grail of better batteries...

has been achieved: New technology improves both energy capacity and charge rate in rechargeable batteries.

I'd be thrilled to have a phone that doesn't need recharging for up to a week or more, and a netbook that can run for several days of heavy use.  Faster, please.

Tri-gate transistors are your future...

This is but a mere stepping stone to duotronics, but it indicates that a real, functional tricorder is getting closer.

The future is now...

Researchers Create Self-Assembling Nanodevices That Move and Change Shape on Demand.

Can von Neumann devices be far behind?

How many 3-D maps of the world...

can fit on a grain of salt? Answer: 1,000, and including this: "...a 25-nanometer-high topographical representation of the Swiss mountain, the Matterhorn, with a scale of 1:5 billion."

Amazing, but kinda hard to use in any practical way, though.

The assimilation has commenced...

Future Bio-Nanotechnology Will Use Computer Chips Inside Living Cells

Geek love displayed...

in the form of "The World's Smallest Spontaneous Atomic Valentine."

Smallest map of the world...

has been etched on a chip at 1:1,000,000,000,000 scale, with the "40,000-kilometer equator reduced to 40 micrometers, half the width of a human hair."

Kinda hard to use, however.

World's tiniest snowman...

is just 0.01 mm wide, about one-fifth the width of a human hair. "It was assembled using tools designed to manipulate nano-particles, and welded together with tiny deposits of platinum. A focused ion beam was used to carve the eyes and smile, and to place the platinum nose."

Here's more about how these geeky scientists celebrate the holidays with a neato video.

Image credit: David Cox,Quantum Detection group, National Physical Laboratory, UK.

The future of WiFi...

includes gigabyte speeds and more.

And check this out too: Printable, Moldable Batteries Made From Paper and Nanotubes.

Faster, please.

Moving atoms...

one at a time. I particularly like the nanometer-scale sign that says "If you can read this you are too close."

How close are we...

to real nanotechnology?

Hey, that rhymes.

Nanotechnology explained...

through song. Very creative and fun.

I'll need better glasses...

in order to read the smallest letters ever written. Stanford University scientists are creating letters that are one-third of a billionth of a meter in size.

How did they do it? Well, it has something to do with physics of course.