Intel Makes Circuits Better Using Lasers

One problem that has always tweaked circuit designers is copper, which is kind of a crappy way of connecting the various chips needed to make your computer awesome, or at least functional. Using copper means the various pieces of your computer have to be close together, which can be problematic since they also like to be really hot. This is why your computer from 1998 sounded like it has an industrial vent in the back; cooling was a real problem.

Well, not anymore. Intel’s invented the first silicon-based optical data connection; it allows the different parts of your computer to talk to each other with lasers. This cable can transmit up to fifty gigs a second, which makes copper look…well, not great.

What does this mean for you? Among other things, wider, flatter, neater electronics, as well as companies being able to scatter computer parts all over the building for the hell of it. In other words, cool TVs and mad science. Thanks, Intel!

[ via Gizmag ]