Mmmm...MRAM

In case you didn't get the memo, we're one important step closer to hitting the next generation of computer memory. Last week a team of researchers announced they had achieved a significant breakthrough by overcoming a key hurdle in the fabrication of these new types of memory. Magnetic ram, or MRAM, uses small magnetic circles, dubbed "displaced vortex states" to store data, as opposed to the magnetic fields used in today's hard drives, which typically orient themselves up or down to indicate on or off.

Geeky, sure, but it's important because this discovery means that the stuff can now be produced at much higher densities, paving the way for MRAM to make a stab at the mass market. A major problem limiting the density of current memory technology has to do with the way the magnetic fields are stored, something MRAM's circular data bits avoid. With current technology, as the magnetic fields get packed closer and closer together, they actually start to interfere with one another. But the tiny vortex states used in MRAM apparently stay confined to their areas, not getting involved in anyone else's business.

The second über cool thing about MRAM is that it doesn't lose data when the power goes off, just like flash memory. It's also miserly with it's electricity usage, and it's fast - computers using MRAM could boot in a few seconds, rather than a few minutes, because the data is already in memory.

Wikipedia has a good page on MRAM that hits the key points. Since we ain't talkin' politics here, I think Wikipedia's info is legit.

BTW, congrats to WP on hitting 1 million English articles this past week.

Many believe MRAM will replace not only SRAM and DRAM, but flash and even conventional hard drives, if the capacity can be ramped up to a sufficient level.