A new experimental computer memory device that can store 1 terabyte per square inch (allowing for storing thousands of times more data than conventional silicon chips) with an estimated lifetime of more than one billion years has been developed by Alex Zettl of UC Berkeley and colleagues.

The device consists of an iron nanoparticle enclosed in a hollow carbon nanotube. The nanoparticle can be shuttled back and forth with great precision in the presence of an electrical charge.