MRAM: Improved by Nanowires

In all our digital devices, there are two main main places of memory storage, the virtual memory (on the computer's disk) and the Random Access Memory (RAM)

The memory on the disk is what is saved on your computer's permanent memory. The Random Access memory is the memory used up by what you are doing on the computer. A file is on the disk, and the actual unsaved word document you are typing on is in the RAM.

Researchers and companies alike are beginning to look at MRAM for the future of memory. MRAM stands for Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory. Unlike traditional RAM, this type of memory uses magnets, rather than electrical charges to make it work. Researchers have begun to use multilayer nanowires to enhance memory so much that there would be no boot up time for computers, and one would not have to save a document constantly for fear that it would be lost due to a power failure.

It may also let us charge our mobile devices weekly, rather than daily.

As the memory does not run on electricity, it promises a large amount of memory, without consuming power. This technology was originally invented in the 90s, but did not come to widespread use because it was hard to fabricate, and because the memory only last for a year. However, researchers have discovered that by layering 20nm of magnetic nanowires, they are able to harness the speed and energy effeciency of the technology.

Though still in research phases with funding from major companies such as Toshiba and IBM, MRAM shows promise for the future of Random Access Memory.
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Potential danger in Nanotechnologies: Nanosilver

As the Prefix nano- becomes a more and more popular and commonplace term to make a product or device sound like its on the bleeding edge of research, it becomes easy to forget the power of the science: not only in beneficial ways.

Nanosilver is an example of this. Silver has always had its reputation for fighting infection, which seems good, and we would expect such behavior at the nanoscale. However, researches in a in 2009 published that the use of this nanomaterial in storage materials such as plastic bags, containers, and films, could be harmful due to an unexpected property of Nanosilver.

The problem is that nanosilver is able to bond with DNA, and interfere with its reproduction. Many people have begun to present this to the FDA in hopes of creating regulations for the use of nanomaterials in food.
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