Phil and Stephen discuss two recent examples of the amazing potential of lasers to change everything.

Lasers Could Make Computers 1 Million Times Faster

A billion operations per second isn't cool. Know what's cool? A million billion operations per second.

That's the promise of a new computing technique that uses laser-light pulses to make a prototype of the fundamental unit of computing, called a bit, that could switch between its on and off, or "1" and "0" states, 1 quadrillion times per second. That's about 1 million times faster than the bits in modern computers.

The researchers also raised the possibility that their lattice could be used for quantum computing at room temperature.  

 

Stimulating brains with lasers can create ‘Matrix’-like false experiences

At the University of California at Berkeley, researchers have been busy exploring ways to project a holographic image directly into the brain. As they have discovered, this can be used to both read neural activity and also to stimulate it.

The results could mean one day being able to activate or suppress thousands of neurons at once; copying patterns of real brain activity to trick the brain into thinking that it’s felt, seen or sensed something. So Star Wars with a touch of The Matrix or Inception, then!

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Eternity Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) | Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

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