Storing bits of memory in nanotube switches

Researchers find that nanotubes can store bits in a reversible change in conductive properties. Devices based on this behavior can withstand a vacuum, high temperatures, and even ionizing radiation.

November 17, 2008 - 08:40AM CT - by Todd Morton

Dropping flash memory prices may help Apple bottom line

With consumer demand for flash-based products decreasing due to the state of the economy, prices for flash memory have dropped drastically. Although this is bad for the flash makers, the price drop may be good news for Apple.

November 05, 2008 - 09:41AM CT - by Justin Berka

Class action suit filed over PowerBook G4 memory slots

A class-action lawsuit has been filed against Apple in a California District Court, alleging that the company hasn't done enough to correct a memory slot defect common to PowerBook G4 notebooks. Ahh, a blast from the past.

November 03, 2008 - 10:08AM CT - by Justin Berka

Resonating electrons make phase change memory possible

Scientists discover the mechanism that governs the materials used in phase change memory.

July 16, 2008 - 10:22AM CT - by Adam Stevenson

Rambus wins major victory against the FTC

The Rambus legal team has been on a hot streak the last 30 days, first scoring a victory against Hynix and now handing a huge defeat to the FTC.

April 22, 2008 - 10:30PM CT - by Jon Stokes

Crucial tool now tells all about your Mac's memory

Jealous of those Windows types with their simple-to-use system memory scanner from a certain popular on-line retailer? Fret no more, as Crucial brings its system scanner to the Mac.

April 08, 2008 - 10:03AM CT - by Erik Kennedy

Firefox 3 goes on a diet, eats less memory than IE and Opera

Benchmarks show that Firefox 3 uses less memory than Internet Explorer 7 and Opera. A number of significant fixes and improvements have brought down the open-source browser's memory footprint and could make it a more viable choice in mobile environments.

March 17, 2008 - 10:05AM CT - by Ryan Paul

Protein destruction needed for memory reevaluation

More evidence that memories are constantly remodeled with new experience comes from a study that shows that protein destruction is needed during the reinterpretation of existing memories.

February 08, 2008 - 12:19PM CT - by John Timmer

New high-speed flash gets giant speed boost

Intel and Micron's joint flash venture has announced the first in a new generation of high-speed NAND parts based on the ONFI 2.0 spec. In a nutshell, SSDs in late 2008 or early 2009 will be smokin'.

February 01, 2008 - 01:24PM CT - by Jon Stokes

Pushing boundary of visual memory reveals limits of IQ tests

How many visual items can the brain keep track of? A recent study suggests that we have a limited number of slots for object recognition, regardless of an object's complexity, and that the number of slots may correlate with IQ test scores.

January 31, 2008 - 02:39PM CT - by John Timmer

Intel, STMicro feel ill effects of sub-prime mess

We can add another entry to the "the sub-prime mess is so bad that..." list. Intel and STMicro are only able to get half of the joint loan they were hoping for due to "significant turmoil in the debt capital markets."

December 27, 2007 - 11:10PM CT - by Jon Stokes

Chimp bests humans on a brain test

In tests that combined numerical reasoning and spatial memory, a young chimp bested all comers, including college students. But the real story behind the results may be more complex than this initial reporting suggests.

December 03, 2007 - 05:01PM CT - by John Timmer

Rambus's Terabyte Bandwidth Initiative looks to 2010, many-core era

How do you get data onto a chip with 100 cores, all of which may be reading from main memory at once? Rambus doesn't yet know the answer, but they have some ideas.

November 26, 2007 - 12:08PM CT - by Jon Stokes

Nanowire researchers discover possible hard drive stand-in: fast, dense, hairy memory

A new nanowire-based storage technique holds promise for eventually replacing hard drives, but growing the wires is surprisingly tricky.

September 19, 2007 - 10:12PM CT - by Chris Lee

Intel moves NOR flash to 65nm

NOR flash memory just got smaller, as Intel announces volume shipments of the first 65nm NOR flash chips.

August 21, 2007 - 04:52PM CT - by Jon Stokes

Gone in a ZIP: researchers erase long-term memories with chemicals

In a blow to the dominant model of memory storage, researchers are able to eliminate memories from the minds of rats weeks after their formation, all by inhibiting a single protein in the brain with a chemical called ZIP.

August 16, 2007 - 10:36PM CT - by John Timmer

Genetic control of emotional memory

A variation in a single neural receptor has a large impact on the ability of humans to recall memories with emotional content, with both positive and negative consequences.

July 30, 2007 - 05:30AM CT - by John Timmer

AMD announces FB-DIMM killer

AMD claims to have a lower-power answer to FB-DIMMs that will debut in 2009. G3MX will give vendors ability to use vanilla DDR3 in servers with very high memory volumes, at quadruple the bandwidth.

July 26, 2007 - 10:47PM CT - by Jon Stokes

The benefits of forgetfulness: smaller search spaces mean easier recall

When the brain tries to recall relevant information, it needs to select it out of a batch of irrelevant memories that compete for attention. In this competition, forgetfulness can be a net positive, as it cuts down on the effort required for successful recall.

June 04, 2007 - 01:40PM CT - by John Timmer

Researchers create a petri dish full of memories

Researchers develop a technique that allows them to train dishes of neurons to fire off signals in a consistent pattern, a behavior that's thought to underly human memory.

May 30, 2007 - 12:45PM CT - by John Timmer