> Modern transistors, which function as a computer’s brain cells, are only a few atoms long. If they are packed too tightly, that can cause all sorts of problem

> Modern transistors, which function as a computer’s brain cells, are only a few atoms long. If they are packed too tightly, that can cause all sorts of problems: electron traffic jams, overheating, and strange quantum effects. One solution is to replace some electronic circuits with optical connections that use photons instead of electrons to carry data around a chip. Journalists need to be educated: Transmission lines are photonic, so silicon already has connections carrying data around using photons. As you would expect, those photons are traveling at the speed of light in the material. If I were king, I would demand that every optical-silicon publication explicitly describe why their optical photons are more desirable than microwave photons that are already in widespread use.