Magnetic fields are pretty nifty for
levitating stuff,
carving sponge-like thingamajigs and, of course,
data storage. But an international team led by the
University of York in the UK has figured out a way to replace magnetic fields for the latter by using ultra-short heat pulses instead. Conventional thinking typically dictates that an external magnetic field is required to store data on a magnetic medium. By using heat, however, researchers were able to record terabytes of information per second in a way that is also more energy-efficient compared to current
hard drive technology. As for the time it'll take for the tech to make it to market, well, we have a feeling it won't be as fast.
