Computing with molecules.

Few if any researchers believe that our present technology--semiconductor-based solid-state microelectronics--will lead to circuitry dense and complex enough to give rise to true cognitive abilities. And until recently, none of the technologies proposed as successors to solid-state microelectronics had shown enough promise to rise above the pack. Within the past year, however, scientists have achieved revolutionary advances that may very well radically change the future of computing. And although the road from here to intelligent machines is still rather long and might turn out to have unbridgeable gaps, the fact that there is a potential path at all is something of a triumph.