I guess I'll be checking dirty fingernails for electronic games ...

Two-state rotaxane molecules designed in the UCLA laboratory of J. Fraser Stoddart act as switches (right) to store information in an ultra-dense 160-kilobit memory made up of a 400 x 400 grid of nanowires (left). Stoddart has been called the 'Maestro of Molecules.'

Holy moley (molecule, that is)! Some scientists at Caltech and UCLA say that they have created a memory circuit no larger than a human white blood cell but with 160,000 bits of capacity. At 100 billion bits per square centimeter, the chip is about 100 times more tightly packed than current memory circuits. Researchers say advancements in the field are overtaking Moore's Law. And since our "appetite" for electronic "junk" races after technology (see Le Rouge et le Noir comment), the next twenty years will be something to watch. [Moore's Law originally stated that the density of "transistors" on a chip will double every two years.]

I only finished discussing Moore's Law to my "students" about three "shifts" ago and now ... obsolete information! And to think I was worrying about them sneaking an iPod into the classroom ... hellfire, I'll have to check the dirt under their (often pretty filthy) fingernails.

Sorry that I didn't have a political tidbit to pass on at this moment.