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Researchers at HP Labs have built the first working prototypes of an important new electronic component that may lead to instant-on PCs as well as analog computers that process information the way the human brain does.

The new component is called a memristor, or memory resistor. Up until today, the circuit element had only been described in a series of mathematical equations written by Leon Chua, who in 1971 was an engineering student studying non-linear circuits. Chua knew the circuit element should exist — he even accurately outlined its properties and how it would work. Unfortunately, neither he nor the rest of the engineering community could come up with a physical manifestation that matched his mathematical expression.

Thirty-seven years later, a group of scientists from HP Labs has finally built real working memristors, thus adding a fourth basic circuit element to electrical circuit theory, one that will join the three better-known ones: the capacitor, resistor and the inductor.
Researchers believe the discovery will pave the way for instant-on PCs, more energy-efficient computers, and new analog computers that can process and associate information in a manner similar to that of the human brain.

Ultimately, the problem is going to be related to the time and effort involved in designing a memristor circuit, “The money invested in circuit design is actually much larger than building fabs. In fact, you can use any fab to make these things right now, but somebody also has to design the circuits and there’s currently no memristor model. The key is going to be getting the necessary tools out into the community and finding a niche application for memristors. How long this will take is more of a business decision than a technological one.”

Microsoft Corp. directors failed to decide on the next step in the pursuit of Yahoo! Inc. yesterday, leaving open the debate over whether to walk away from the $44.6 billion bid or fight to replace the Internet company’s board.
Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer is undecided on what to do, and his allies don’t know whether he will give up or mount a hostile takeover, the Wall Street Journal reported last night on its Web site, citing people familiar with the matter.
Microsoft examined a price of $32 to $33 a share in recent days, more than the initial $31 cash-and-stock bid, the newspaper said. Raising the offer would be one way for Microsoft, the world’s biggest software maker, to clinch a friendly deal with Yahoo or make it easier to win a proxy fight to oust the board.

Link: Read More @ Bloomberg