Single-Crystal Silicon Mirror

Silicon chips are described as remarkable calculators. Given problems and solution instructions through keyboards, computers rapidly solve complex mathematical, physical, and engineering tasks regardless of workload. Years or decades of manual calculation may take minutes, and even otherwise unsolvable tasks can be answered quickly. Chips are miniature knowledge stores: a pinhead-sized wafer can hold the 24-volume Encyclopaedia Britannica. Worldwide book/magazine titles exceed 3000 in units of ten thousand, with over 50 in the same units added yearly. German futurist Bai'enhao'er says scientists working day and night can read only 5% of their specialty's publications. The proposed solution is storing information in silicon memories at library/information centers and networking them, so scientists retrieve data immediately from office computers. Microelectronics rejuvenates medicine and healthcare, with the described ability to restore sight/hearing/speech and power prosthetics for tens of millions of disabled people. Aerospace, defense, and automation also benefit: computer-controlled drones fly, satellites/spacecraft/shuttles launch, navigate, position, and automatically return information. Computers guide artillery/missiles accurately, even against fast airborne targets and incoming missiles. Industrial computers/sensors save labor, improve automation/precision, and increase productivity. Robots work rapidly/accurately, including hot, underwater, or hazardous jobs. Intelligent robots are described as showing impressive teamwork and scoring awareness; the text also describes defeating the world's top chess grandmaster. Such performances mark a new stage of intelligent computing.