The Ultimate Limit of Moore's Law

BuzzSkyline writes "Physicists have found that there is an ultimate limit to the speed of calculations, regardless of any improvements in technology. According to the researchers who found the computation limit, the bound 'poses an absolute law of nature, just like the speed of light.' While many experts expect technological limits to kick in eventually, engineers always seem to find ways around such roadblocks. If the physicists are right, though, no technology could ever beat the ultimate limit they've calculated — which is about 10^16 times faster than today's fastest machines. At the current Moore's Law pace, computational speeds will hit the wall in 75 to 80 years. A paper describing the analysis, which relies on thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, and information theory, appeared in a recent issue of Physical Review Letters (abstract here)."

WHAT!!

[cryoman23]

so in 80 years my computers processors wont be able to get any faster... :( o well then i guess its time to CLUSTER!

Re:WHAT!!

[outsider007]

I plan on setting up server farms in parallel dimensions

The problem is...

[FunkyRider]

Whether today's teenagers, or tomorrow's engineers, are capable of building such a machine. IMO all they know is EMO and shit.

Passing the buck

[suso]

Eh, let's let the singularity first, then we'll let the robots take care of the problem.

Re:Form over function

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

Just remember, though, that performing any universe simulations that evolve to include copyrighted works will be a capital offense by the time such hardware is available...

Re:Reminds me of a joke

[Anonymous Coward]

And a mathematician would stand for a moment, calculate the limit, and then run fullspeed into the wall.

Re:What is the limit?

[Idiomatick]

You could move everyone on earth at near light speed while you sit in a pod in space. You will die as a few seconds pass for them and you wont need a very big key, also your life span was not reduced.

Re:WHAT!!

[Jurily]

Then it's finally time for One Dimension Per Child.

Re:Transistors Per IC and Planck Time

[Nefarious Wheel]

"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is." - Yogi Berra (iirc)

Re:WHAT!!

[Tumbleweed]

Then it's finally time for One Dimension Per Child.

I do hope you mean one _extra_ dimension per child.

Subspace FTL field

[caseih]

So the solution is very obvious. Just put the entire computer in subspace field that creates a pocket of reality where the speed of light is faster (many times faster). Course you then have to have some mechanism for speeding up and slowing down data coming in the ODN conduits. It's been commonly done since the early 24th century. All of these pesky "limits" can be worked around with some fancy level-three diagnostics.

Re:Passing the buck

[Killer Orca]

Eh, let's let the singularity first, then we'll let the robots take care of the problem.

You mean us?

Re:Reminds me of a joke

[Tanktalus]

(As an engineer...)

Nah, that's not breaking the rules. After ten "moves", the eleventh move is simply to reach out and grab the treasure. If you average out his body's movement, you'll find that he has not, actually, traversed farther than half way to the treasure. Only a mathematician would consider the leading edge to be representative of the body, whereas an engineer would consider the centre of gravity to be representative (assume a spherical body... hey, no assumption required!), and thus there'd be no problem in reaching out to grab the treasure as long as his centre of gravity hasn't proceeded more than halfway between his previous location and the treasure. Mind you, if it's very heavy treasure, this may be more difficult.

Re:WHAT!!

[CecilPL]

I'm sorry, I don't follow your line of reasoning.

Re:What is the limit?

[chebucto]

[pendant]

computer speed per see

rather,

computer speed per say

[/pendant]

Re:WHAT!!

[TheSpoom]

A little too lengthy for my tastes.

Re:Passing the buck

[The_mad_linguist]

But the singularity might accidentally the world.

Re:Anyone else get the feeling...

[gumpish]

that the ultimate limit is the processes that the universe itself uses to "compute" its own state? That we can only ever asymptotically approach this limit? Once we hit the limit, our computations cease being simulations and become reality.

Lay off the bong hits.

Re:WHAT!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Are American children getting THAT obese now?

Re:What is the limit?

[DriedClexler]

Pointing out that someone was off by 74 orders of magnitude isn't a nitpick :-P

Re:Transistors Per IC and Planck Time

[smoker2]

But the whole thing about QM and spooky action at a distance is that it appears to break the speed of light. An entangled particle light years away from its partner, would instantly collapse to the same state as its partner when the partner is observed. If this can be harnessed to send information, then the notional limit of light speed disappears. While it's a good theoretical exercise to calculate possible limits, they very often turn out to be nothing more than hurdles.

Furthermore, you will never get to New York by heading west on I40. What if current physics is all based on heading west ? The natural limit is the pacific, which to a car based traveller is insurmountable. If you change your theoretical paradigm to a plane, you can get to New York by heading west. But first you have to invent the plane. And very soon after it is achieved some clever wit says "hang on, why don't we travel east in the first place ?" This is the potted history of all discovery so far.

Re:Subspace FTL field

[sabt-pestnu]

I recall a short story of a "US vs USSR" style chess championship (or "Deep Blue" vs another computer...). Each side put up their best computer for the contest.

One side had an ace in the hole, though... they had developed a field that sped up the passage of time. Set a computer in it, and it could calculate all possible moves from a given position in a reasonable amount of time.

So:

Our heros' computer made an opening move.
The foe's computer, able to calculate all possible moves from that position, resigned.