A nano-computer is similar in many respects to the modern personal computer, but on a much smaller scale. With access to several thousand (or millions) of nano-computers, depending on your needs or requirements-gives new meaning to the term "unlimited computing," you may be able to gain much more power for less money.
Nanocomputing is evolving along two distinct paths:
• New nanoproducts, techniques and enhancements will be integrated into today's technology, such as the PC, the mainframe and servers of all types. Mass storage will change significantly as thousands of inexpensive storage devices become available. Storage should never be a problem or cost again.
• Research and development are working to manufacture completely new nanocomputers that run software, similar to the current PC.
A nanocomputer is a computer whose physical dimensions are microscopic. The field of nanocomputing is part of the emerging field of nanotechnology. Several types of nanocomputers have been suggested or proposed by researchers and futurists.
Electronic nano-computers will work in a similar way to the way current microcomputers work. The main difference is a physical scale. More and more transistors are squeezed on silicon chips with each passing year; attest to the evolution of integrated circuits (ICs) capable of increasing storage capacity and processing power. The maximum limit to the number of transistors per unit volume is imposed by the atomic structure of matter. Most engineers agree that technology has not come close to this limit. In the electronic sense, the term nano-computer is relative. By the standards of the 1970s, today's ordinary microprocessors could be called nanodevices.
Chemical and biochemical nano-computers would store and process information in terms of chemical structures and interactions. Biochemical nano-computers already exist in nature; are manifest in all living beings. But these systems are largely uncontrollable by humans. We can not, for example, program a tree to calculate the digits of pi, or program an antibody to fight a particular disease (although medical science has approached this ideal in the formulation of vaccines, antibiotics and antiviral drugs). The development of a true chemical nano-computer will probably proceed along lines similar to genetic engineering. Engineers should figure out how to get individual atoms and molecules to perform controllable calculations and data storage tasks.