How we've changed in 100 years

a reply to: Xtrozero
All my lights are powered by sealed unit gel lead acid batteries, so aside from the gel, they're old school technology batteries.

I'm glad of solar panels, because although not as continuous a source as a water mill, there's zero moving parts, nothing to wear out quickly, and I've enjoyed 3 years of free electricity now, since all my DIY kit has paid for itself!😀

originally posted by: Xtrozero
a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

What is the end limit? ...

Well, I never thought I'd hear myself say this, and I'm not sure I'm even serious, but I'd have to say...much below 2nm is going to require a paradigm shift in the way we look at chip development. In other words, below this threshold I think we're going to be talking about quantum computing development which might not even be possible on this planet.

I don't think we can discretely define an end limit at this point, honestly, but I'd say we're pretty close to the limits of what can be done here on Earth. Is it possible to get smaller and/or more dense? Maybe, but before we can even consider this area of research there has to be a need driving it.

I don't know if you caught it (above), but the world's 'fastest' commercially available computer chip is a (24) core i9 14500KS, and that is running on a 9nm lithography semiconductor framework. The lower limit right now is 2nm for semiconductors, so there's an almost unimaginable amount of headroom between 9nm and 2nm. In other words, lots of room for development on existing technology before necessity will drive something smaller.

Speaking of Moore's law; if you look at the semiconductor trajectory over the past decade, it's really more like Moore's law squared. I'm not a big believer in Moore's law (in general), but that's the math, if you are a subscriber.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk


And then we need to wonder which one of these was actually a greater achievement than going to the moon or aircraft etc. We just do not have the prospective to gauge.