Forgot your password?

typodupeerror

Comment: Re:O... M... G... (Score 1) 312

by JamesP (#40095605) Attached to: Return of the Vacuum Tube

True, it's field electron emission!

The interesting parts are the very small size and the addition of the gate which allows modulation of the electron flow.

Absolutely. I would describe it more as a "new type of transistor" than a "small vacuum tube" (and the fact that it's solid state and apparently can be integrated with other devices)

 

Comment: O... M... G... (Score 3, Interesting) 312

by JamesP (#40094331) Attached to: Return of the Vacuum Tube

The article is painful in some aspects

Electrons move more slowly in a solid than in a vacuum, which means transistors are generally slower than vacuum tubes; as a result, computing isn't as quick as it could be.

I'm flabbergasted.

Meyyappan, who co-developed the "nano vacuum tube," says it is created by etching a tiny cavity in phosphorous-doped silicon. The cavity is bordered by three electrodes: a source, a gate, and a drain. The source and drain are separated by just 150 nanometers, while the gate sits on top. Electrons are emitted from the source thanks to a voltage applied across it and the drain, while the gate controls the electron flow across the cavity

This is really a vacuum tube if you add a high dose of immagination. Really

The separation of the source and drain is so small that the electrons stand very little chance of colliding with atoms in the air

Makes me wonder if tunneling plays a part here

Comment: Re:Ok, really? (Score 1) 168

by JamesP (#40030477) Attached to: RunCore Introduces Self-Destructable SSD

Makes sense if you want to reuse the disk and don't want to use a computer to rewrite it.

I think the overcurrent is not just "to the chip" but may be exactly tied to the erasing process, so you just "fry" (over erase) the memory cells

And that's exactly the point, if you're in a critical situation (like at gunpoint) you don't want to waste time with "overwriting" but should just go to the overcurrent method.

Comment: Ok, really? (Score 1) 168

by JamesP (#40028773) Attached to: RunCore Introduces Self-Destructable SSD

"First method goes through the disk, overwriting all data with garbage"

That's the WORSE possible way to "self destruct"

Do you know why in flash memory they have to work differently then on a spinning disk?

Erasing blocks takes a lot of time. Exactly because it's erasing a whole block!

Erasing and then overriding seems pointless (even though theoretically you could dissolve the chip in acid and then measure the charges there to see if you can recover traces of data)

The second way seems much more promising.

And by the way, "InVincible"?! Really? It should be the opposite of that!

Comment: Re:Again? (Score 2) 120

by JamesP (#39925945) Attached to: Exposure to Wide Variety of Microbes May Reduce Allergies

Yes, because the only observations that are true is what comes from a lab, right?

Vaccines come from the exact kind of observation the parent mentions, sure it was tested.
But of course, modern "web scientists" only consider "research" that comes from lab financed companies

But if you want to test it, sure, go ahead, because obviously you know better than several years of immune system research

 

No man is an island, but some of us are long peninsulas.

Working...