In the midst of a widespread and potentially highly lucrative search for next-generation nonvolatile memory, scientists from the University of California have put to use an interesting characteristic of carbon nanotubes. When one hollow nanotube is inserted into a second (slightly larger) nanotube, scientists can achieve a rapid telescoping motion that can be applied to binary or triple digit memory for future molecular-scale computers.

Although nonvolatile memories are common today--from cell phone cards to CDs to hard drives and flash disks--scientists envision a nonvolatile memory whose high speed and power would take the place of Random Access Memory (RAM). RAM's high-speed currently makes it responsible for displaying applications and data while the computer is on, but it is a volatile memory, meaning all data is lost when the power is turned off.

A next-generation nonvolatile memory would combine the speed of RAM and nonvolatility--enabling computers to boot up as fast as you can turn on the TV, as well as eliminating the need for secondary storage devices (such as external hard drives).