Optical Computer Made From Frozen Light

neutron_p writes "Scientists at Harvard University have shown how ultra-cold atoms can be used to freeze and control light to form the "core" - or central processing unit - of an optical computer. Optical computers would transport information ten times faster than traditional electronic devices, smashing the intrinsic speed limit of silicon technology. This new research could be a major breakthrough in the quest to create super-fast computers that use light instead of electrons to process information. Professor Lene Hau is one of the world's foremost authorities on "slow light". Her research group became famous for slowing down light, which normally travels at 186,000 miles per second, to less than the speed of a bicycle."

Moore's law strikes again

[SIGALRM]

ultra-cold atoms can be used to freeze and control light

Crap, and I just bought a new water-cooled chassis with 6 fans and alot of cool neon light tubes...

Where do I get one of these? No, I want it now :)

If you overclock it too much...

[Anonymous Coward]

...you will void your warranty and may suffer a severe sunburn.

nature abhors a vacuum unless it's a dirt devil

[Leontes]

e=mc^2 except where c is like slower and fuck, headache.

Famous for writing IE?

[Anonymous Coward]

Her research group became famous for slowing down light, which normally travels at 186,000 miles per second, to less than the speed of a bicycle."

Ah, so she worked on IE.

depends on who is riding the bicycle

[buddhahat]

became famous for slowing down light, which normally travels at 186,000 miles per second, to less than the speed of a bicycle.

ah yes, the Speed of a Bicycle (SoaB) metric for slow light.

The best thing about frozen light

[Anonymous Coward]

The best thing about frozen light is that you can put it in your freezer, so that when there's a blackout, it will thaw and then you'll have light.

Re:Moore's law strikes again

[Penguinisto]

"and alot of cool neon light tubes..."

...aren't you afraid that the neon light will screw up the new CPU?

/P

Means nothing

[brontus3927]

And this means absolutely nothing to the non-supercomputer world. Light doesn't slow itself down for free. Freezing light for this proccess likely takes the expenditure equal to the GDP of a small country. At best, in the next 50 years there will be 2 frozen light optiocal supercomputers

Re:nature abhors a vacuum unless it's a dirt devil

[MalaclypseTheYounger]

In other news, electricity is being generated from Albert Einstein's coffin as he spins in his grave...

Re:errrmmmm...

[magarity]

We can safely rule out 'A' since velocity can't be negative; any bicycle with just a bare jet engine strapped to it ain't goin' nowhere.

Tech News Units Of Measure

[TheFlyingGoat]

I propose that "speed of a bicycle" be adopted as the standard measure of velocity in technical articles. Units already included in the standard are "Libraries of Congress" for data storage requirements and "Size of a Volkswagon" for physical size measurements.

Re:I'm pretty sure...

[buddhahat]

Imagine a Beowolf Cluster of bicycles!

In Soviet Russia...

[Pugflop]

...the light freezes you!

Will it at least make and keep my vodka cold, comrade?

Re:Tech News Units Of Measure

[Stormcrow309]

We need a conversion factor to BSUs (Bull Shit Units) for all of these standards.

Awesome

[back@slash]

Now all we need is Advanced Military Algoritms and Pre-Sentient Algorithms until we achieve Fusion Power and our units become twice as strong as our enemy's units.

Intellectual Integrity and Cyberethics may pose a problem however.

Telecosmic

[glenrm]

And we will all be overrun with Telecosmic cathedrals of light, blah, blah, blah...

Re:errrmmmm...

[pixelpusher220]

and I thought we could safely rule out 'A' because it wasn't one of the given options? ;-)

Does this mean....

[Datamonstar]

I'll finally get that lightsaber I've been wanting?

Re:Tech News Units Of Measure

[NoMoreNicksLeft]

Metric BSUs or standard BSUs?

Re:Moore's law strikes again

[antic]

For those looking for a better reference of the measure mentioned, Speed of a Bicycle is in between Mum Falling Down the Stairs, and Cat Jumping Out of the Bath.

Slashdot: News for Nerds, Physics for the Vague.

YIC

[kokoloko]

became famous for slowing down light, which normally travels at 186,000 miles per second, to less than the speed of a bicycle.

My bicycle travels at the speed of light, you insensitive clod!

Re:I'm pretty sure...

[Anonymous Coward]

Imagine a Beowolf Cluster of bicycles!

Don't they already do something like that in France?!

Re:Moore's law strikes again

[lgw]

What's that in Libraries of Congress ... per fortnight?

Re:Thank you, The Annoying Randi (tm)

[lgw]

I can't even get past my "defined definitions" of what's redundant and what's not!

Re:I am a skeptic

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't forget:

4) This research is done by a woman.

Phasers?!?!

[Kr3m3Puff]

Does this mean we can actually make phasers that produce slow photons so we can have cool special effects in real life like Star Wars and Star Trek? Then our super heros can dodge lasers.

I am sure this will be the next product on Think Geek.

How about...

[Anonymous Coward]

6) A bicycle hurled through space at nearly the speed of light?

Re:errrmmmm...

[brontus3927]

oops, pesky "k" I think I just sent the Mars Polar Orbiter careening to it's death

Re:errrmmmm...

[Anonymous Coward]

Speed of a bicycle, fine, but...African or European?

Speed of a bicycle?

[loonicks]

African or European?

Re:Moore's law strikes again

[Criffer]

The ISO Library Of Congress is a measure of information, so LoC/fortnight is a measure of data rate.

The speed of a bicycle is a physical velocity, of about one attoparsec per microfortnight (~1 ft/s).

Re:Means nothing

[brontus3927]

And I wasn't trying to be funny. I was trying to be information on insightful.

Twice as LONG units?

[DoofusOfDeath]

If we can slow light to somehow make our "units" twice as long, we'll never get in a war again. Their women won't consider our lives expendable.

Re:Quick Reflection on a Slow Mirror

[OECD]

What's a braniac?

An early computer created at the University of Kansas. Lacking easy access to the sand necessary for silicon-based components, midwesterners experimented with wheat-based computing. Unfortunately, they were never able to get all the bugs out.

Re:nature abhors a vacuum unless it's a dirt devil

[coopex]

Yo man it be DJ Doomday, fresh from busting phat rhymes with my homie MC Hawking. I fin to give an explaination uh de momma pos fuh my homies Sheeit!

Yo buss dis. It's not de same. De c in E=mc^2 (or E^2 = M^2c^4 + p^2c^2) refers to an intrinsic property uh spacetime. Bose Einstein Condensates an' so on ain't really altuh dat. One way to think 'boutit be to stop wit de 'slowin down light thin', an' instead conceive it as de BEC swallowin up photons fuh a while, storin de information, an' den reconskructin a new photon which be exactly identical at de end. Dis be pretty much de same, because in QM, you kaint really track anythin exactly, an' you definitely kaint distinuish between objects wit de same properties. Sheeit!

Re:The best thing about frozen light

[soops1966]

Is that why the light comes on when you open the fridge door?

Re:Moore's law strikes again

[kahei]

I'm from the UK -- could you express that in Football Fields or Areas The Size Of The Isle Of Wight please?

A Little Off-Topic, but...

[Dysson]

Kudos to whoever is giving out low mod points to people whose jokes completely blow. I have seen "Funny,5" way too many times for observations that are just too painfully unfunny to read.

>In Soviet Russia, light freezes you!!

God, please stop.

Re:Photon size problem

[Anonymous Coward]

Forcing light to bend around corners is difficult.

It used to be difficult, until the invention of the mirror.

Re:Moore's law strikes again

[shadowbearer]

Cat Jumping Out of the Bath

That's a pretty large upper limit. We're talking relativistic velocities here. Somehow I doubt a bike can move that fast (ok, one of the new plastic crotch rockets maybe :)

But it does put a new light on the old maxim, "Beware blue cats moving at .99c"

Eh.

SB