Storing zettabytes of data in nanocrystals

Mankind is producing so much data that storing it all is becoming more difficult every day. It is expected that by 2020 about 40 zettabytes of data will be generated per year (1 ZB = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes); in 2025, according to Seagate, 163 ZB of data has to be stored. That is an awful lot of thumb drives...

Researchers at AMOLF, an institute of the FOM Foundation, have developed a new type of lens that is flat instead of curved like a conventional glass lens. The lens works on the principle of negative refraction, which was predicted by Veselago in 1968.

Last month we discussed the basic theory behind optical fiber systems. It was learned that fiber optics are the light equivalent of microwave waveguides, and that they are capable of immense bandwidth communications. In this month's final instalment we will look at fiber communications and some of the circuits that can be used with experimenter grade optical fiber kits.

Fiber optics are the latest transmission media in communications and instrumentation technology. Fibers are showing up in telecommunications, in computer data communications, and all manner of scientific, engineering and medical instruments. Briefly stated, fiber optics is that technology in which light is passed through a plastic or glass fiber so that it can be directed to a specific destination. If the light is encoded (modulated) with an information signal, then that signal is transmitted over the fiber optical path.