ousehold have a personal computer, and the use of the Internet explodes. Employment in the U.S. software industry tops $2 million. 2000 IBM Corporation introduced the world’s most powerful computer. IBM says its massive “ASCI White” computer can perform 12 trillion calculation per second. RESEARCH FOR NEW MATERIALS Modern material scientist and alchemist do investigate why a material behaves the way it does. Then, when they start to get answers, they begin asking , “ Why not?” as they make new materials that behave in ways different from anything under the sun. These advanced materials unleash a vast array of new technologies- from faster and safer airplanes to heart valves that can extend life for decades. Sometimes the results are startling-as in a metal alloy so moldable it can be blown into a bubble, or a ceramic that goes into the heart of an automobile engine without melting or breaking, or a fabric that stops bullets, or a glass that is so clear you can look through a piece a hundred miles thick and not even know it is there. A recent development shows how important this can be. Modern digital computers, large NC machines and or laptops are now dependent upon microprocessors-computer chips made from crystals of silicon and small amounts of other elements. Silicon, an excellent material for controlling electrons, is a semiconductor. Superconductivity, the flow of electricity without resistance, was discovered in 1911, but it was phenomenon that could occur only at extremely low temperatures. In order to superconduct, metals needed to be immersed in liquid helium at 4 kelvin or minus 460 F making the process expensive and impractical for everyday use. In 1986, IBM scientists cooled a ceramic pellet of copper, barium, and rare earth lanthanum oxides and watched it lose electrical resistance at 30 K. This discovery set the scientific world off on a wonderful chase to find even better su...
