• Question: Can computers keep getting faster?

    Asked by to Daren, Lynne, Phillip, Simon on 18 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Simon Redfern

      Simon Redfern answered on 18 Jun 2014:

      This is known as Moore’s Law. The reason computers have been getting faster is that circuits have been getting smaller and smaller. But there is a minimum size limit for the current technology and we are just about there. It is to do with the size of atoms – you can’t operate electronics at lengths scales shorter than atoms!

      So, the current technology has a limit that we are very close to right now. The solution is to switch to different technology, which is being done in the realm of “quantum computing”. At the moment the methods are being worked out and the technology is very far from being useable, but there is so much pressure to make it work, because of the limits in current methods, that I think it will become a reality in the next decade or so.

    • Photo: Lynne Thomas

      Lynne Thomas answered on 18 Jun 2014:

      Yes they can. We are still discovering new materials which will allow us to make smaller, more efficient processors and also materials which can store more data into a smaller space and transfer the information faster! You can see evidence of this just by thinking about how much mobile phones have improved in recent times and so you now effectively have a mini-computer in your pocket!

    • Photo: Daren Fearon

      Daren Fearon answered on 18 Jun 2014:

      Simon and Lynne have already done a good job of answering this question. Having faster computers is brilliant for science. It lets us do things that would have been unimaginable even 20 years ago!

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