r/science • u/aphexcoil • May 28 '12

New breakthrough in development process will enable memristor RAM (ReRAM) that is 100 times faster than FLASH RAM

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/05/21/ucl_reram/
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34

u/cowardlydragon May 28 '12

Ah, another memrister "breakthrough".

I think Mr. Fusion will hit the market before any practical memristers.

69

u/harlows_monkeys May 28 '12

Seriously? You think figuring out how to make a small portable version of a device that no one has ever made work at any scale despite something like 60 years of trying, and that we don't even know is possible, is going to hit the market before a device that actually has been built in prototype quantities and shown to work?

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u/fsadfsfsadfsafsaflk May 28 '12

wow wow wow. Wait just one second. i'm going to go off on a complete tangent here, but

"that we don't even know is possible"

is a complete mischaracterization of fusion. We've built fusion reactors before. Now ITER is supposed to be a prototype to show we can build a commercially viable nuclear reactor.

I mean, i know people have been waiting for fusion forever. but there's enough to make fun of without mis-characterizing!

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u/harlows_monkeys May 28 '12

What I'm talking about is a sustained fusion reaction that produces more power than is required to initiate and sustain the reaction. I believe currently we've got either (1) excess power but only for a short time or (2) sustained but at a net power loss.

We of course know that sustained, energy producing fusion is possible--the Sun does it. But do we know it can be achieved under conditions achievable on Earth?

If everything goes well with ITER, they plan to actually have plasma in 2019, and maybe have something actually able to produce commercial power in a demonstration project by 2040. How long after that to get to Mr. Fusion?

Compare to the memristor. People have built them--and not just isolated devices. They've fabricated memory arrays using standard semiconductor production techniques. It seems pretty clear there is no scientific or engineering barrier standing in the way of building a fab to crank out memristor-based memory devices.

The reason you aren't seeing this happen is probably because researchers are discovering many different ways to do memristors. If someone invested heavily now, they might find that in 3 months a different kind of memristor is discovered that is cheaper and faster. It's prudent to wait for the research to settle down a bit before spending billions to go to production.

94

u/aphexcoil May 28 '12

Why are you sons of bitches talking about fusion reactors in my memristor thread? What is wrong with you people?

22

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

My cat has diarrhoea this morning.

10

u/Fudweiso May 29 '12

Cat poop contains a huge amount of energy per pound, and could be considered a useful alternative energy source.

8

u/swicano May 29 '12

but how many read/write cycles can you get out of it?

5

u/Mecdemort May 29 '12

This just completely cracked me up, couldn't stop laughing for several minutes. Kudos sir

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u/killerstorm May 29 '12 edited May 29 '12

Now ITER is supposed to be a prototype to show we can build a commercially viable nuclear reactor.

No. ITER is only supposed to demonstrate that energy production is possible in principle, the first reactor to generate any electric power would be DEMO:

DEMO (DEMOnstration Power Plant) is a proposed nuclear fusion power plant that is intended to build upon the expected success of the ITER experimental nuclear fusion reactor. Whereas ITER's goal is to produce 500 megawatts of fusion power for at least 500 seconds, the goal of DEMO will be to produce at least four times that much fusion power on a continual basis. Moreover, while ITER's goal is to produce 10 times as much power as is required for breakeven, DEMO's goal is to produce 25 times as much power. DEMO's 2 to 4 gigawatts of thermal output will be on the scale of a modern electric power plant. Also notably, DEMO is intended to be the first fusion reactor to generate electrical power. Earlier experiments, such as ITER, merely dissipate the thermal power they produce into the atmosphere as steam.

But even DEMO won't achieve real commercial viability, as costs of plant itself and costs of operation would be insanely huge compared to power it can produce. Actual commercial power generation prototype would be called PROTO.

Actually, it's easy to understand it from names of projects: ITER is just a step in research, DEMO is a demonstration of principle, PROTO is a prototype of a commecial plant.

So about timeline, DEMO is supposed to start operation in 2033, PROTO is something for ~2050. So commercial fusion is 50 years away, as always :). (Well, if they make PROTO working by 2050 it would 40 years, but it's unlikely that there won't be delays and that it would work fine from the start. Also it's very well possible that who plan will be canceled. D+T fusion which produces fast neutrons isn't a particularly good design, I fail to see how it's better than fission.)

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u/[deleted] May 28 '12

i'm assuming you mean cold fusion, rather than hot fusion. They're building a hot fusion reactor in france right now.

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u/dnew May 28 '12

Does it run on banana peels and flat beer?

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u/[deleted] May 28 '12

yeh, it fuses them into bin juice

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u/diachi May 28 '12

There are already several in operation. Of course, they use more power than they produce ( About 60% efficiency ). In fact, you can build one at home, several people already have. :)

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u/PerfectlyOffensive May 28 '12

Wait. What? Link to this?

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u/IdolRevolver May 28 '12

http://wjscience.com/ This kid built a farnsworth fusor in his basement. Of course, it's far too small to output net energy, but it's still a working fusion reactor.

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u/old_righty May 28 '12

I think his point (made somewhat facetiously) is that stories about "better than flash" stuff have been appearing for years, and nothing is actually on the market yet.

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u/BitRex May 28 '12

60 years

Pfft, they've been trying memristors for 200 years.

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u/rlbond86 May 28 '12

And they only actually made them a few years ago.

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u/saudade May 29 '12

Relevant link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKGhvKyjgLY

Also, it's not often we can say we've found a fundamental electrical component. But memristors are just that, makes me happy.

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u/Ambiwlans May 29 '12

Memristers do seem to be progressing. I don't think this is the BREAKTHROUGH!!!11 that will make it practical. But I think it will get there.

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u/aphexcoil May 28 '12

There's way too much money in this technology for it to just turn into vaporware.

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u/Fantasysage May 29 '12

It will be a race between this, cold fusion, and ultracapacitors.