China has reportedly invested one-billion yuan (US$ 145.4 million) to develop and test a new range of computer systems that could potentially change the amount of electricity hogged by machines the world over.
According to a report in South China Morning Post, Chinese scientists are developing a superconducting computer that uses a fraction of power that is consumed by conventional computers around the world. At a time when the world's demand for energy is rising significantly, the new range of computers - if developed successfully - could mean far less environmental footprint.
How these new computers could consume far less power is by putting electric current through special supercooled circuits which are made of superconducting materials. On paper, this would mean negligible resistance and marginal energy requirements.
Within the scientific community in China, there is a lot of scepticism about whether the new technology would be successful. Yet, there is also a large consensus that if indeed successful, it could be a massive boon for consumers as well as the environment.
