As we reach the limits of what computer processors can do, "biologists are testing a new way to efficiently sift through mountains of genomic data: lasers," said Jamie Condliffe at Technology Review. The U.K.-based startup Optalysys has begun experimenting with a processor that "encodes data onto light beams that can be made to interfere with each other." That allows the processor to spot identical sets of data or perform calculations in "one shot," rather than over many stages, as a regular computer would do.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Will Starmer's Brexit reset work?Today's Big Question PM will have to tread a fine line to keep Leavers on side as leaks suggest EU's 'tough red lines' in trade talks next year
-
How domestic abusers are exploiting technologyThe Explainer Apps intended for child safety are being used to secretly spy on partners
-
Scientists finally know when humans and Neanderthals mixed DNAUnder the radar The two began interbreeding about 47,000 years ago, according to researchers
