The Internet is soooo five nanoseconds ago. At least that’s what some scientists believe. But have no fear: They’ve already created a replacement.
They’re calling it “the grid,” and folks familiar with the project say it’ll be about 10,000 times faster than today’s Internet. That’s fast enough to transmit holographic images, full-length movies and every Rolling Stone song ever recorded within just a few seconds.
Only a handful of fellow scientists have access to the grid at present (Britain has about 8,000 servers hooked up to the system), and it’s likely to stay that way for a while. It’s really designed to sift through the obscene amounts of data these scientists like to accumulate and share. For instance, the grid recently was used to help design new drugs to fight malaria—a task that would’ve taken an ordinary, Internet-linked PC 420 years to do.
Scientists say once regular folks like us gain access to the grid, it could revolutionize how we spend our time. “With this kind of computing power, future generations will have the ability to collaborate and communicate in ways older people like me cannot even imagine,” said David Britton, a physics professor at Glasgow University. (The London Times)
